A New Shinigami
by Totally Average
Summary: When Beyond Birthday died, he became a Shinigami. He no longer wants to surpass L. He wants to destroy him. Before he can set his plan in motion, he must defeat the one who killed him, but Kira may not be the only thing in his way of crushing L. There is a poll on my profile regarding this story. Please read about it on my profile and then vote so that I will know what to do.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

* * *

A few years after his arrest, on January 21, 2004, while serving a life sentence in a California prison, Beyond Birthday died of a mysterious heart attack.

L and the rest of the Kira Taskforce had been discussing ideas when he had received the news. While stirring the sugar into his coffee, he heard a beeping sound that alerted him to a new message in his inbox. He picked up his computer from its place on the floor and pulled up the page. "The list of criminals that died yesterday has come in," he said. He half listened to the other people in the room as he checked over the names. When he got to one specific name, he froze.

_Beyond Birthday_.

"Watari!" he yelled, startling everyone in the room.

The elderly gentleman walked in, "Yes?"

"Is this information reliable?" L asked. His face still held little emotion, but his voice wavered slightly as he asked the question.

Watari immediately knew why he was upset, he had read the report before sending it to him, "I'm afraid so, Ryuzaki."

L looked down so that his hair covered his eyes. He felt extremely guilty about this. It was his fault. Beyond wouldn't have died if L had gone with his gut instinct and put an alias in for his name when he had been arrested. Instead he had used his real name, and now Beyond was dead. Along with the guilt was sadness. He had been quite fond of the younger man, even though he had become a serial killer after A's suicide. He knew that becoming a serial killer had not been B's fault. He had done those horrible things so that he could surpass L. He needed to be better than the great detective because of revenge. Beyond blamed L for the death of A, his only friend. L understood why, if he hadn't put so much pressure on the young boy, A might have lived. He felt extreme guilt over how he had treated his first successors.

L asked, "Has anyone made plans for the body?"

"Not yet, it was rather sudden and no one has had the chance."

L placed his computer on the floor and stood, "I would like to organize the funeral."

Watari nodded, "Very well."

L followed the older man out of the room saying to the others behind him, "Excuse me for a moment."

The door shut firmly behind them. After a few seconds of silence Matsuda said, "I wonder who it was that died." The others nodded in agreement. Then he noticed L's computer still on the floor. It had been left on and the screen was showing what L had been looking at. Feeling very much like a child stealing cookies out of the cookie jar, he picked it up.

"Matsuda! You shouldn't look at his private computer like that," Soichiro scolded.

This normally would have been enough to make the younger officer stop, but he was much too curious about this not to try to find out. "We'll have to see the list of criminals eventually anyway," he rationalized.

The list was designed with a picture and information on the victim next to the name. It was done in such a way that you could only look at one name at a time. Because of this, it was very easy to see which criminals' death had affected L so badly.

Matsuda let out a gasp of surprise when he saw the picture, "He looks very similar to Ryuzaki!"

This got the attention of the others in the room. They all crowded around the little device to see. It was true. Even though it was obvious that the young man on the screen was a severe burn victim, if you ignored the burns, he looked almost exactly like L. He had the same ebony hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. They even had the same facial features.

There were only a few differences between them, aside from the burns. The man on the screen had a slightly different haircut, it was less wild but still not completely under control, and his eyes, while the same color, were slightly different in shape. The young man also seemed to be a bit bigger than L, still skinny, but not like the detective, and he was missing the bags under the eyes that marked L's insomnia. There was one other thing that marked a difference between L and this young man. L's face never held much emotion. Even when he had asked Watari if the death of this man was true, his face had been stoic. But this man, he held a look of rage. His eyes were glinting with malice and, even though it was certainly anger the young man was showing, he wore a smile. It was a creepy smile that covered his entire face. It made him look insane, or very close to being so. Because of this drastic change in expression, it was a wonder Matsuda had seen the similarities between him and L at all.

Matsuda began reading the information aloud, "Beyond Birthday, a murderer in the U.S.A. He killed and dismembered three people in the Los Angeles BB murders before trying to disguise himself as the fourth victim by burning himself to death. He was caught by L with the help of the FBI agent Naomi Misora and killed by Kira on January 21, 2004." There were a few moments of silence as everyone took all this in.

"Why would Ryuzaki need to mourn over a suicidal serial killer that he put in jail?" Aizawa asked.

"Perhaps they were related? That would explain why they look so much alike," Matsuda said.

"Whatever the reason, Ryuzaki must have cared for him quite a lot. He left out his computer. Only something tremendous would cause him to make such a careless mistake," Soichiro said. Everyone agreed with this and Matsuda put the computer back on the floor where it had been earlier. They then began discussing their theories on Kira, silently deciding to discuss the deceased criminal again later.

* * *

They decided to bury Beyond in England, next to A. They thought it was fitting since he had planned to die in order to get revenge for the poor boy's death. The ceremony was short and only a few people attended. It was expected. Anyone at Wammy's House who knew of him would not want to go to his funeral. He was a murderer after all.

L had been trained not to show emotion at the deaths of people. He would lock any sadness he felt away in the recesses of his heart and make decisions based on logic. This occasion was no exception. The only thing he allowed Beyond's death to do was give him more motivation to catch Kira. He remained stoic throughout the ceremony and did not speak with anyone during or after it. Afterwards he returned to Japan and continued working on the Kira case with renewed fire. He would send Kira to death row if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

When Beyond Birthday died, his soul did not go through the process that a normal human soul would. At first he went to Hell. The average soul stays where it is first sent, but his did not. On March 13, fifty-two agonizing days after his death, he became a Shinigami.

Now, you may be thinking that this is what should have happened in the first place, after all Beyond had been born with the Shinigami Eyes. You would be wrong. Beyond Birthday himself had no say in if he were to become a God of Death or not. He had become one out of chance.

Let me explain.

The Shinigami King, known as the 'Old Man' by most, is the one who creates new Shinigami. He must use a human soul that has already lived a life on Earth, as he is unable to create a soul or take the soul of one of the living. The human soul he uses must agree to become a God of Death, because of this, most Shinigami come from Hell or Nothingness, also known as Mu. There are not many who would agree to leave Heaven. If these conditions are met, he can create a body for that soul to use in the Shinigami Realm. He is, of course, able to determine what they will look like. Most of the time, they have a monster-like figure. It is assumed that each Shinigami is modeled after a part of the Shinigami King, whether that part is personality or appearance, no one knows. A few hundred years before Beyond was born, he created a Shinigami who went by the name Tenshi. The other Shinigami thought he was very strange. He hadn't had the look of a normal Death God; in fact his body looked almost human. He had flowing silver hair that was tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck, tan skin, and a beautiful face. The clothes he wore were the color of snow. The only thing about him that marked him as a Shinigami was the large white wings on his back. If a human were to see him, they would think him to be an angel.

Tenshi's personality was different from the others as well. He was a very compassionate Shinigami that cared deeply for human life. Even more so than Gelus, a lower-ranked Shinigami that often watched the human world, he greatly disliked writing in his Death Note. While most of the Death God's wrote several thousand years' worth of names at a time, Tenshi would write only a few hundred. It got to the point that he refused to write names in it at all. He decided to wait for the years he had written to run out so that he could die, watching the humans live their lives while he did so.

But, because of his Shinigami Eyes, he could see when the human he was watching was going to die. This further depressed him. He then got the idea that he would drop his eyes into the human world. This would relieve him of the burden of knowing their death days, and he didn't need them anymore anyway. He dropped them into the portal where they landed in the body of a pregnant woman. Her child would be born with the Eyes. Tenshi kept an eye on the child as it grew up. He noticed that it seemed a bit different from the others. It was quieter, and disliked other humans. Tenshi came to the conclusion that it was the burden of the Eyes that had caused this. He felt bad for the human, but not enough to take them back. He had become happier with the absence of the ancient power, and was not willing to go back into the deeper parts of his depression. It would only remind him of how much longer the humans he watched had to live, which in turn would remind him of his own imminent death, and who would want that?

The other Shinigami were only slightly concerned with his behavior. They did not believe that he would last the few hundred years he had to wait to die. They thought he would give in and take back his eyes to write more names in his note.

But Tenshi did not waver in his resolve. After a time, the human with the Eyes passed on. Tenshi still did not take them back. He still had a while to wait before he could die. They were passed to another pregnant woman, and her child was also born with the Eyes. This went on for many generations, the Eyes being passed to the closest unborn child when the current owner died. The human with the Eyes was always alienated by other humans due to the strangeness caused by being able to see Death. Eventually the Eyes passed to Beyond. Something happened during his lifetime that stopped the cycle.

Tenshi finally died.

Because of this, when Beyond met his own end, the Eyes would not be passed on to another child. You may now be thinking 'How does this cause him to be a Shinigami?' Normally it wouldn't. The only thing that caused Beyond to live this new life was the Shinigami King. The Shinigami population had been dwindling. Tenshi's death left only fourteen, and then Gelus died soon after to save the life of Misa Amane. The two deaths being so close to one another caused a small panic, and the King decided to let a new Shinigami be born. He remembered Beyond Birthday. The young man had already had the Eyes in his past life. He would be used to death. Becoming a Shinigami would not be as much of a shock as it would be to a normal person. For these reasons, Beyond was chosen to become a God of Death.

The Shinigami King resides in a cave-like structure in the middle of the Shinigami Realm. He never leaves his home and conducts all his business there. His appearance is known to none. The secret of how to make a Shinigami's body for the soul of a human is just as well kept. As the news spreads that there will be a new arrival, Shinigami gather around the entrance to the King's cave…

* * *

Beyond was in agony. The fires burning around him were so much worse than those he had felt during his life. He had no idea how long his pain had been going on, only that it seemed much longer than eternity. All of a sudden, the pain vanished, replaced by a dark void. The immense relief that came with this change was overshadowed by his curiosity. Why had this happened? Nowhere had he ever heard about a change after you went to Hell. Once you were there, you stayed there. That was what he had always been taught.

Suddenly he heard a voice in the darkness, "Beyond Birthday, would you like to become a Shinigami?"

A God of Death? Beyond had met one once before. It had gone by the name of Armonia. He had appeared when Beyond was a very small child and explained what the numbers above people's head were and how to decipher them. Right before Armonia had left, Beyond had asked him what it was like to be a Shinigami. Armonia had said it was extremely boring, but you got to live forever. Beyond hadn't had the chance to learn much more than that because Armonia had disappeared soon after. Did he want to be a Shinigami? He had never really thought about it. It wasn't something one thought about. Boredom sounded like heaven when compared to going back into the flames of Hell, and living forever meant that he would never have to go back once he left.

"Yes," Beyond rasped. His voice was too damaged from the fires to say much more. Immediately he saw a flash of light. Then he fell unconscious.

* * *

A/N: This is my first posted fanfiction. I posted it because I thought that if other people were reading it, it would motivate me to finish it faster. I know the title sucks, but I couldn't think of anything better. The next chapter will start with Beyond waking up in the Shinigami Realm. I don't know how fast this will be updated, but I will try to get a chapter up at least once a month. This will eventually be a BxL fic. I really don't think I will write a lemon. If you don't like boyxboy then you shouldn't read it. I don't want to get a bunch of flames just telling me about that. If you review, it should be about the story.

I know that a lot of people say that B has red eyes because of him having the Shinigami Eyes. From what I've read this isn't true. In Death Note 13: How to Read it says "No matter what medical or scientific method is employed, it is impossible for humans to distinguish whether or not a human has Shinigami Eyes. Even Shinigami cannot distinguish this fact, except for the very Shinigami that traded his or her eye power with that human." Also, it is never mentioned in Death Note Another Note what color his eyes are. If they were red, I think it would be a strange enough eye color to be mentioned.

In this story, even though his eyes are black when he was alive, I made them red when he is a Shinigami. Just because I like it better that way.

Armonia visited every child that was born with the Eyes to explain how they worked. Tenshi told him which child it was and Armonia would go visit them when they were considered old enough to understand what they were being told. I don't really have much of a reason for Armonia to do this, but I'm just going to say that Tenshi told him to.

The Shinigami King picked Beyond out of the other people who had the Eyes because when he asked Armonia for advice on it, he said that Beyond would be the best choice. Armonia said that because he liked Beyond best out of all the other humans he had given explanations to.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

* * *

Beyond woke up in a very dark place. He couldn't see anything at all. The ground felt like rock and there was a small draft coming from behind him. He wasn't given a chance to notice more than that before someone spoke to him.

"You are in my cave in the Shinigami Realm. Allow me to be the first to welcome you here." It was the same voice as in the void.

Beyond tried to pinpoint the voice's location, but he could not. It seemed to come from every direction at once.

"I am the King of Death. I would tell you my name, but I have been alive for so long that it has been forgotten," the voice said, "Your appearance is like that of a human, in memory of Tenshi. He was the Shinigami that gave you the Eyes before you were born."

Beyond took this in easily. Armonia had said as much when he was a child. The King must have thought Tenshi was important if the appearance of another Shinigami was being dedicated to him. Then he heard a thump over to his left.

"Those are your Death Note and the rule book. You will write names in the Death Note in order to survive. You have enough life to last you one day. If you don't write a name before that time is up, you will die again and be sent back to Hell," the King said, "I suggest you read the rulebook carefully. Your rules are slightly different from the others' because of your human appearance. You may go out and meet the rest now."

Beyond reached out and grabbed the little notebooks. So this is how a Shinigami killed? It seemed rather easy. He stood and began walking toward the draft. As he moved forward light began to appear. He looked down to see what the body the Shinigami King had given him looked like. It seemed to be exactly like his human one. There were no burn marks, of course, but everything else was the same. He wore black pants that were torn at the bottom and a red long sleeved shirt. His feet were bare.

Looking to the side he saw something shining. Walking over to it, he saw that it was a small mirror. He picked it up so he could get a better look at his face. It had been years since he had seen himself burn free. What he saw in the mirror caused him to immediately drop it from surprise. Had he seen that right? He picked up the mirror again to get a second look. What he saw made him smile. He hadn't been mistaken. His once dark grey eyes were now a glowing red. He started walking toward the entrance again, leaving the mirror behind. The new color fit what he had become. A God of Death ought to have strange eyes.

About this time he came to the entrance of the cave. The land outside was a desolate wasteland. It looked like a desert with chunks of metal sitting around here and there. The other Shinigami were sitting around, gambling or just staring off into the distance. Looking around, Beyond saw a total of eleven of them.

One of them walked toward him. It had stitches on its head and sharp teeth. Beyond could tell immediately that it was female. He had no idea how he knew this. There was nothing about her that looked at all feminine, but he could tell anyway. Out of habit, he looked above her head and saw that her name was Kinddara Guivelostain. There was no visible lifespan.

"A human body again? Did this one come from Heaven too?" she asked with disdain.

Beyond let a wide smile appear on his face, "Not even close."

So Tenshi had come from Heaven? That explained why he had refused to kill humans, but why had he become a Shinigami in the first place? Beyond knew that if he had been lucky enough to get to Heaven, he never would have left. He took a better look at the being in front of him. She seemed very hostile. Even now she was in a fighting stance. She also seemed to have a very low level of intelligence. Him? Come from Heaven? It was almost laughable.

"Hello Beyond." The voice jarred him from his thoughts. He looked behind Kinddara to see a tall skeleton covered in jewels.

His insane grin was replaced by a more friendly expression, "Armonia, it's been a while."

"You know one another?" A male with a hook for a left hand who was wearing a feathery American Indian headdress had asked this. His name was Zellogi.

"This must have been one of the humans that Tenshi gave his Eyes to," a female voice said. It came from a kind of blob covered in eyes. This one, Nu, had at least some intelligence.

Beyond turned away from them to get a better look at the others. There was a male that reminded him of a mix between a bird and a crustacean who was sitting by himself a few yards away. His name was Calikarcha and he was staring at Beyond with the many eyes that lined the side of his head. Over by a heap of metal, two Shinigami were gambling with bones. One looked like some sort of insect covered in bandages. He was called Deridovely. The other one had a cow skull with really long horns for a head and some type of furry material for clothes. This one was Gukku.

There were three females speaking in low tones a short distance from the two who were gambling. Midora looked like a very large salamander with spots on the top of her head and on her back and tail. The one in the middle, Daril Ghiroza, had an overall human body shape but with zombie-like features. She also wore a sort of flat crown on her head with fabric coming off of the back. The fabric made it seem like she had long, dark hair. Rem was completely white. Her body was also similar to that of a human except that her bones seemed to be on the outside. Her hair was reminiscent of Medusa and covered one eye.

There was one more Shinigami. He was inching away from Beyond in a very timid way. Sidoh had a head that looked like a bird without its beak. His body looked more like a bug. He had arms like a praying mantis, and his wings looked like tattered cloth around his shoulders. Beyond decided to have a little bit of fun and gave him his creepiest smile. Immediately Sidoh let out a frightened squeak, lifted his wings, and flew away.

Beyond turned to Armonia, "Is there any particular reason he's scared of me?"

"Not really. He's always scared of something."

He smiled again. That could prove to be entertaining. "Is there a place where I can look at the names and faces of humans?"

"Of course, there are holes to look into the human world. I can take you to one," Rem said. White wings grew from her back and she began to fly in the opposite direction that Sidoh had gone. Beyond wondered how he was supposed to follow her if he couldn't fly.

As if reading his mind, Nu said, "You have wings too. Just concentrate for a moment and they'll emerge from your back."

Beyond nodded his thanks and did as she advised. He felt a strange sensation on his back and turned his head to see large red wings. Moving them experimentally, he took to the sky. It was much easier to fly than he thought it would be. All you had to do was pay attention to what you were doing so you didn't crash.

He caught up to Rem and followed her for a time. The landscape beneath them changed several times during their travel. At one point it looked like a giant graveyard with bones everywhere. A little later, it changed to a kind of forest, except all the trees were rotting or chopped down. No matter where they went it was very warm. He took out his rulebook and read it through while they flew. Finishing it quickly and looking at his Death note. It was solid black and was completely empty. Thinking it would be best to know how to use something before testing it, he asked Rem how it worked. She told him all she knew. Beyond was glad of the detail in her explanations. It wouldn't do to be uninformed.

Eventually they came to a sort of dome made of rock. Inside there was large shining light on the ground. Beyond thought it could be a small lake made of light.

"That's how you get into the human world. We're only allowed to go there if we drop our Death Notes first though. If you only want to see humans you go over here." Rem walked over to a raised platform that was filled with the same kind of light as the little lake. It was a little less than shoulder height on Beyond. "Think about the place or person you want to see and look into the pool," she instructed.

He immediately thought of L. The pool went dark before showing a scene of the inside of a hotel room. L was sitting in his usual way at his computer, Watari was walking in with some cake, and some people Beyond didn't know were doing some paperwork. B knew that L was working on catching Kira. Upon seeing the great detective, he was filled with a burning anger. L turned and began discussing things with the others in the room, taking care to make himself understood to those with a lower intelligence level.

Beyond knew that despite appearances, L didn't care about anything. He was only trying to keep his helpful detective façade. He was a manipulative bastard who told whatever lies he could to get what he wanted. If he had cared at all, the first generation of Wammy's House kids would have been more than some experiment. He wouldn't have treated them like tiny machines. He wouldn't have caused A to kill himself. And if he had felt any sorrow for what had become of Beyond's best friend, he would have at least gone to the funeral.

A thought occurred to the furious Shinigami. L was now at his mercy. It didn't matter what protection L had, if Beyond wanted to, he could kill the panda-eyed detective. His hand itched to write L's name in his Death Note, but he knew he couldn't just yet. If L died now, he wouldn't know why. The detective would need to know the reason for his death or it would be meaningless, besides he wanted L to know it was B who killed him, not Kira or anything else.

Speaking of Kira, Beyond thought he ought to get rid of him too. It seemed that Kira was just some guy with a Shinigami and a Death Note. He didn't even count as a real murderer. He'd had no right to kill Beyond and the newest Death God wanted revenge. He smirked as a plan began to form in his mind, L and Kira would both die humiliating deaths if he had his way.

* * *

L worked silently at his computer. It was about three in the morning and the other investigation members had gone home long ago. The To-Oh Entrance Ceremony was coming up. L knew that he and Light would be the ones with the highest scores. That would mean he would have to prepare a speech. He had plenty of time to do this since the investigation was pretty slow going at the moment. His would be getting to know his main suspect after the ceremony. L planned on revealing his identity to Light Yagami. If Light was Kira then this would put him in a tight spot. He wouldn't be able to do anything to L without placing suspicion on himself. And if he wasn't Kira, then L got an ally.

_Thump_

L immediately jumped out of his chair and assumed a defensive stance at the unexpected noise. He looked around, examining the area to find the source of the disturbance. All he saw was a small black notebook on the ground. It looked like it had fallen off of the dresser. He picked it up and looked through it. When he saw that it was empty, he put it back on the dresser and went back to his seat.

It was strange that the notebook had fallen. There was nothing overly suspicious about it but it struck L as odd. He couldn't remember seeing it before. Maybe it belonged to Watari. Filing it away in his memory, he started checking over his information on Kira again.

* * *

A/N: First things first, I apologize for the messed up update thing the other day. I tried to post this chapter on that day, but right after I did I saw that it was messed up a little bit. When I started trying to fix it, my step-dad started yelling at me to get off the computer. If you've read my bio thing, you know that I don't like being yelled at. It distracts me from what I am doing and annoys me. Apparently I ended up deleting the chapter instead of fixing it, so a really big sorry for those of you who got a story alert and were going WTF when there was nothing there.

I'm not too satisfied with this chapter. It feels like a filler, even though it isn't really. This was mostly introducing the Shinigami. I don't know if we will meet them again, but just in case I showed all of them.

Feedback would be nice. I'd like to know what you guys think.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

* * *

The sun was about to rise on the day of April 20th. L was sitting in the dark in front of a television, eating some strawberry shortcake. His insomnia had once again kept him awake all night, and the circles under his eyes were getting even darker than they had been before the Kira case. He thought about what had been going on lately. Two days before, Kira had sent videos to Sakura TV asking for the police to cooperate with him. After Mr. Yagami had retrieved them with the use of a police van, L had watched them many times. Of course the answer would be no, but L was developing a theory. The murders used to prove that the sender of the videos was Kira didn't fit his usual pick of criminals. L was nearly seventy percent sure that this was the work of a Second Kira. He would go over the videos a few more times to check over the evidence of it, but he was becoming more and more certain that he was not mistaken.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. "Watari?" The movement stopped and two glowing red orbs appeared in the corner of the room. This was not his elderly caretaker. He quickly shut his computer so that his eyes could adjust to the darkness of his surroundings. The silhouette of a person began to take shape before his eyes. The floating orbs were actually a pair of eyes.

"Hello L," a familiar voice said. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly as he recognized the being in front of him. This was impossible. The slightly hunched over figure of Beyond Birthday stood in the corner of the room, the burns that had covered his body now gone. Though his ex-successor seemed to no longer be copying him-his clothes had changed for one thing-it was still disconcerting to look into a near mirror image of himself, even more so when his irises had changed from almost black to blood red.

"How are you here? You're supposed to be dead. What happened to your eyes?"

Beyond smirked, "I _am_ dead. As for my eyes…many of my kind have this eye color."

His kind? Did he mean a ghost? L was skeptical. He had never believed in the supernatural. There was nothing concrete to support the existence of ghosts or anything similar. It was more likely that Beyond's death had been a masterful charade, and he was now wearing contacts and makeup. However, there didn't seem to be a reason for this behavior.

"What do you mean by your kind?"

B's smirk widened into a manic grin, "A Shinigami, L."

This was strange, even for Beyond. L was beginning to think this was a hallucination. He had never had one before, but there was a first time for everything. In one of his rare moments of free time he had read a book on psychology. In the hallucinations section it had said that seeing someone who had died recently could be a normal part of the mourning process, though it was usually only a brief encounter. He decided to conduct a test.

"Why are you here?"

His smirk disappeared and was replaced with a pout, "I need a reason to visit my old mentor?"

"You hate me, Beyond."

B sighed, "You are a means to an end. I wish to assist you in capturing the one who killed me. If I have to play nice to get what I want, then so be it."

L stared disbelievingly at his ex-successor. There was now an eighty-two percent chance that he was hallucinating. He was quite sure that the younger man would not ask him for help. He hated L too much for that. Was he putting on an act? For what purpose?

"Why capture him? If you are a God of Death as you say, why not kill him?"

"Oh that's no fun. Kira is an arrogant little shit. He needs to be brought down a few notches. Being caught by you ought to do it. He'll die soon after."

L saw what Beyond was getting at. He wanted to play with his victim. Humiliate him and then watch him die in some horrid manner. Would he do the same to L when Kira was taken care of? There was a high possibility, but he needed more information.

"How do you intend to help?"

"I can answer some questions. Of course, if I think you can figure it out on your own I won't tell you anything, the best detective in the world should come up with some things by himself. In return, I want jam. Naturally it should be strawberry flavored. I haven't had a taste in such a long time…" Beyond's entire demeanor lit up at the mention of jam. It seemed that he really missed the sweet substance.

If, against the odds, he was real, there was an extremely high chance that B would kill him after Kira was gone. Despite this, L was inclined to agree to the deal. There was no immediate danger in him joining the team and L had never been one to turn away information. He had questions about how Kira killed and if Beyond was truly a Shinigami, which was even less likely than his chances of actually being alive, he could probably give him at least a hint to what the murder weapon was. Jam was easy to obtain. There were many jars of all flavors in the kitchen area of the suite. Watari stockpiled any supplies that could be kept for long periods of time so that he didn't need to go shopping every few days. The only problem was that L still wasn't sure if Beyond was real or not.

"I agree to your deal, Beyond. Jam can be found in the kitchen." Better safe than sorry. He needed any information his ex-successor might have.

B grinned and walked toward the kitchen door. It seemed that he already knew the layout of the hotel room. Instead of opening the door, he fazed through it like a phantom. L wasn't sure what to think of that. It could increase his probability of being imagined, but if he were truly a Shinigami, fazing through things could be one of his abilities. The percentages stayed where they were.

* * *

Beyond contemplated L's reaction to him as he dug his fingers into his third jar of jam. He hadn't done much, but due to his prolonged observation of the odd man, B could see things others would not catch. The way L had tensed slightly at the sound of his voice. The way his eyes had widened in disbelief and curiosity at the sight of him. Beyond had needed to use all of his willpower not to burst into ecstatic laughter. He had seen through the detective's carefully crafted mask. It was exhilarating.

On the other hand, acting as if the sight of L didn't make him want to throttle the man had been extremely difficult. This might be harder to pull off than he first anticipated. No matter. He would finish what he started. He knew L had probably at least guessed that he would be killed after the Kira case was closed. B knew that he would agree to the deal anyway. He wouldn't turn down such potentially valuable information. It would have been incredibly stupid of him to have done such a thing.

As he savored the delicious strawberry flavor he thought through the events that had led up to now in order to see if he had missed anything. Getting a second Death Note had been relatively easy. On his first day, before he had written any names in his original notebook, he 'lost' it. Not in the Human World, but in the Shinigami Realm. He had gone to the Shinigami King to ask for another one. If B had been telling the truth, there was not enough time to find the original before he would have died again. All the efforts to avert panic and create a new Shinigami would have been put to waste. The King had seemed a little suspicious, but had no choice other than to give him a second notebook.

Then he had dropped his second notebook into the Human World and retrieved the original one from the place he had hidden it. No one had seen him drop his notebook. He had made sure of that. He had dropped it into L's hotel room near a desk. This would give the impression that it had fallen. After that he had waited almost the maximum amount of days before he left the Shinigami Realm, observing L and Kira to pass the time. A few days after he dropped the notebook Rem came to him. She had revealed some rather interesting information then: how to kill a Shinigami. Beyond had asked her why she had divulged what she had kept hidden before.

She had responded by saying, "You remind me of Gelus, the way you watch humans all the time. He died that way. You were just born. I didn't want you to die so quickly." Beyond knew he wouldn't be saving any of the humans he watched, but expressed his thanks anyway. Information was information. Anything could be used to his advantage. Soon after, she went to the Human World. He kept an eye on her and her human, a model called Misa, as well.

He had learned quite a bit about all three humans during this time. The model was an idiot. She was a Kira supporter because he had killed the one who murdered her parents. She was the one who sent the videos to the police. L would catch her easily. Kira was a young boy, Light Yagami, who was an extremely prideful and arrogant person who aspired to become a god. He was also a young genius.

L had been the most fun to watch. Kira did not have to be present at the site of death, could control the time of death, and could control a victim before they died. L had absolutely no idea how the mass murderer was doing these things. It was funny to see the detective completely stumped about something. Even so, the humor was always quickly chased away by jealousy. Kira, this little boy who wasn't even using his own power, was doing the only thing Beyond had wanted to do since A's death. He was in a battle of wits against L, the Greatest Detective in the World, and he was not losing. He could very well become the one criminal L would not be able to catch.

It was infuriating! It almost made him want to write the boy's name in his Death Note. It wouldn't work of course. Beyond had come to the Human World with the intention to kill Light, so, because of the Rules, he could not use his Death Note to do it. Still, it was a comforting thought.

There were no holes in the plan so far. He was satisfied with how things were going. Now, all he had to do was offer information when the situation called for it and Kira would be captured and put to death. It was a pity that he wouldn't be the one doing the killing, but it was necessary. Then he could finally take care of L. Beyond continued to eat the large supply of jam while he went over his plans for the panda-eyed man. Revenge would be sweet.

* * *

A/N: Yeesh! That one took forever. First I get stuck, then I get busy and have no computer time, then I get grounded again. It's one thing after another.

Thanks to all reviewers! I love feedback. It makes me happy.

The next chapter should have that scene I've been dying to write in it, but no promises. Well, no one here will be able to tell anyway since you don't know what scene it was. Psychoanimefreak might though. She did see the outline of this story, but that was months ago. See if you can remember girlie! I will give you cyber cookies if you do.

I almost got it updated on the anniversary of Light's death. Not quite though, about half an hour late. I should be happy though. It isn't my computer day. XP Take that stupid rules!

Was this chapter believable? That is the only question I have about it right now, though I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I get off. Now I'm sorta tired, so I'm going to bed. Maybe. Depends on if I want to stay on the internet or not. Anyway, as I sit here listening to Geek in the Pink, I say good night, or good morning, or good whatever time it is when you read this.

EDIT: I edited this chapter and chapter two. I only deleted a sentence in the other one and added a paragraph in this one though. Nothing really changed about the story, but I'm happier with it now. *looks up at old A/N* Gosh, I'm weird when I've had no sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

Beta'd by darkangel1194

A/N: Okay, that took far too long to update. I would have had it out on the twenty-eighth, but our internet went out. Then I got a beta. Ya'll know that takes a little while to work out. They have to look at the chapter and all that. I am posting this on the closest possible day. I want to have the next chapter out this month like I originally planned, but don't expect it. A lot of this is from the show. I had to stick it in here though. Hopefully that doesn't mess with the story.

*This next part is a rant, feel free to skip it* My sister needs an attitude check. We went on a school trip this past week and I had to enter this academic thing. When they announce the top three (not me) she turns around and sticks her tongue out at me, giving me this 'haha you lost' look. Grief I should have smacked her. She didn't enter anything in the first place. At least I tried to do something. Then, on the ride home, she starts complaining about how her friend kept talking to me instead of her and I got to sit up front and the world hates her and blah blah blah. Her friend only talked to me when she wasn't around or when she started acting like a spoiled princess. She's our cousin anyway so I don't see why that should matter. And I sat up front because 1) I am older and 2) she had the opportunity on the way there but chose to sit with her friend in the backseat while I rode the bus. Man she gets on my nerves.

Ridiculously long rant over. If you're still reading this then you get a really big cookie with the flavor of your choice. Speaking of which, I owe one to psycoanimefreak. She didn't guess correctly, but she is awesome and I know her IRL. *hands cookie*

* * *

When Beyond finished eating the jam, he decided it would be a good idea to test out his powers. He already knew what all of his powers were, but he had no practice. Even just phasing through things took some effort, and he still could not make only parts of his body phase through things. It was either his entire body or nothing.

He went to an empty suite on another floor to practice his abilities. It would be annoying and embarrassing if L came in and ruined his concentration. It might cause him to run into the wall or something equally ridiculous. He put his hand on the wall and concentrated on making it go through while keeping the rest of him solid. Nothing happened. He kept trying for a long time, but he couldn't get his hand to go through.

Beyond crouched into his favored L-position and thought about it. He knew it was possible. He had seen one of the other Shinigami do it. Gukku had reached through a pillar to take his turn in one of the many games the Gods of Death liked to play. Why couldn't B do it? Maybe he was trying to do too much at once. He put his hand on the wall again and tried only putting his fingertips through the wall. After a few minutes it worked. Beyond smirked in satisfaction. He would simply have to practice more. Was it this hard for other Shinigami to get control of their powers? He didn't think so. They were all very lazy, and if it had been too difficult, they probably would have given up. Of course, they might have been more active when they first became Shinigami. He would have to ask one of them later. When he was certain that the taskforce members would have gone home for the day, he returned to L's hotel room. He needed to keep tabs on how the investigation was going. He walked in to see L fiddling with his laptop.

"Have you told your team about your theory yet?" He knew L had formed one by now. He had to know there was a Second Kira.

L glanced at him, "No, I will do so in a few more days."

"L?" Watari walked into the room, "Who are you talking t—" The elderly man's eyes widened, "Beyond?"

_Shit_.

Beyond was stunned for a moment. How could Quillsh see him? He must have touched the Notebook at some point over the weeks Beyond had been in the Shinigami Realm. B was aghast at this oversight. He should have kept an eye on the Notebook to see who had touched it, or at least expected Quillsh to touch it at some point since he was the one who cleaned the rooms. They couldn't allow a maid to enter the suite during an investigation.

"You are able to see him as well, Watari?" The old man nodded his head, his mouth gaping like a fish.

Beyond whipped his head around to stare at L. Did the old man's ability to see him have some relevance? L lifted his thumb to his mouth, deep in thought.

"It would seem that he is not an illusion as I first thought."

He had thought Beyond was a hallucination? Then this oversight was less damaging than B had first thought. Quillsh being able to see him was a good thing. It proved Beyond's existence.

"However I am still skeptical of your God of Death status," L turned to face Beyond.

"A what?" Watari seemed very confused.

Did the man believe nothing he was told? "I could easily provide proof, if you like. Just point out a victim."

L frowned slightly, "Is there no way to prove it without taking a life?"

B thought for a moment. His new abilities wouldn't be convincing enough on their own. He was certain of that. He could reveal the existence of the Eye Deal, but L wasn't stupid enough to make it. There was no way to prove he was what he said he was without revealing the existence of the Death Note. He wanted L to find out about that detail on his own. After it was found, Kira would quickly be caught, and his fun would be cut short. He enjoyed watching L flounder around with almost no leads.

"Not at this time," he replied.

L tilted his head, "When will it be possible?"

"That depends on you and how quickly the investigation progresses."

"Will one of you please explain what is going on here?" It seems Watari has gotten impatient.

"You know almost as much as I do Watari. Beyond appeared to me earlier this morning claiming to be a Shinigami. He said he would like to help with the Kira case."

"I don't believe this."

Beyond turned to face Quillsh, "You have no choice." He then made to leave the room but turned at the last minute and said, "By the way, I suggest that when speaking to me in front of the other taskforce members, you don't make it obvious. They aren't able to see or hear me, and it would be counterproductive to be labeled insane by your coworkers." He then left to go practice some more.

* * *

L had asked Light Yagami to join the investigation team. Beyond met the final Shinigami, a figure in gothic clothes with a clown-like face, when the boy walked into the room. He had seen him several times from the Shinigami Realm, but they had never had an introduction. He didn't plan on having one either. Giving away the other Shinigami's presence by speaking to him would give L a hint he wasn't quite ready to give yet. B had no qualms about Ryuk speaking to him, however. If he told Kira about Beyond, it wouldn't affect anything he had planned out. When Ryuk caught sight of him, he let out a small chuckle and said, "Looks like we got a new guy while I was away."

Light's eyes flickered in Ryuk's direction, and his expression changed to one of surprise and apprehension. He must've understood what the other Shinigami had implied. He quickly masked his uneasiness with a small smile and shook L's hand. After Light learned everyone's aliases, L led him over to a television so he could watch the Second Kira's videos.

Beyond watched with interest as the detective began to give a test to the boy. L had not told Light that there was a Second Kira. Instead, he allowed him to watch the videos that had been sent to Sakura TV and form his own opinion. He had suspected that Light would say nothing about the possibility of another Kira when he saw the tapes for the first time. Kira wanted him dead, and the fastest way to do that would be to force L to show his face on television as the videos ordered. But, he had also known that Light was very good at reading people. There was a high possibility that he would figure out it was a test. The important thing was the way Light reacted.

Light stood from his chair and said that there was a Second Kira. He then gave reasons for his deductions that matched L's almost exactly. Everyone was thrilled that Light had figured it out. It was obvious that only L and Beyond had noticed the small slip. Light's hand had grabbed the chair as he stood. The grip of his hand on the chair had been very forceful, as if he were angry about something and trying not to react. Light had noticed that he was being tested. L then said that they needed to make a video from the real Kira to the Second Kira, and that he wanted Light to make it. This was another test. Depending on what Light wrote to be aired, his chances of being Kira would either go up or down.

Beyond made himself incorporeal and settled in a comfortable spot in the corner of the room so that he wouldn't be in the way. Even though it didn't hurt, it was extremely odd to see and feel a person go through you. It didn't take as long as he had thought it would for Light to finish the script.

* * *

"I think you've done an excellent job with this. However, if we don't leave out the part that says 'You're free to kill L', then I'm going to end up dead."

Light laughed, "Sorry, I guess I just got carried away playing the part. I figured that if I was him, I'd demand to have you killed. I was only improvising. Feel free to change it to whatever you like."

L heard Beyond make a derisive snort over in the corner of the room. It seemed they both saw through that lie. It was obvious that any mention of killing L should be nowhere in that video. Even Matsuda would have known that. He quickly added the new information up in his head to come up with a Kira percentage.

"That sounds good," he replied absently. Twenty-seven percent.

They would air it on the news tonight. L handed it to Aizawa to be turned over to the television station. They would now have to wait for the Second Kira's reply.

0000000TimeSkip0000000

L sat in his usual position to watch the Second Kira's reply. It hadn't taken long at all to get a response. It had only been a few days. He had expected nothing less. The Second Kira wanted to contact the original. That was the whole point of sending videos to Sakura TV in the first place. A reply to his efforts was exactly what he wanted. Now they could devise a plan on catching one of them.

"…_I don't think you have the Eyes…"_

The Eyes? L knew he had heard that term before. He remembered Roger telling him something about Beyond when the younger man still lived at the orphanage. That he had special eyes. He could see a person's name and when they were going to die. Is this what the video was referring to? L glanced in B's direction. He was staring at L with a smug smile, "You remember the Shinigami Eyes don't you L? I seem to recall that you were told of their existence several years ago."

That confirmed it. Shinigami Eyes. They were what gave the Second Kira the power to kill with only a face. This nearly proved that Shinigami exist. L was extremely reluctant to believe it. It could simply be another human who was born with the ability to see these things, like Beyond had been.

"_...by showing our Shinigami to each other."_

L gasped and his thoughts screamed to a halt. So much for another human with an ability. He couldn't stop himself from yelling out. If Shinigami existed, many of his personal beliefs would have holes punched through them. To say it was shocking was an understatement. It was like ice water had been dumped on his head. He was a bit scared as well. To know that there were beings out there who could kill him on a whim and that there was nothing he could do about it was frightening to say the least. It was this fear that caused him to fall out of his chair.

The impact of his head on the floor knocked his brain back into gear. A Shinigami would explain Kira's inhuman abilities. He was borrowing the power of a God of Death. But at the same time, "I am supposed to believe that Shinigami actually exist?"

"That's impossible!"

"Obviously they don't exist."

"I agree with them Ryuzaki," Light said, "Listen to yourself. Of course Shinigami don't exist." It could have been imagined, but he seemed to be relieved about something.

"You're probably right, but I remember that Kira had some prisoners write something that suggested their existence," L said.

Beyond walked into view. "I told you L, but you didn't listen to me. No, you had to be certain. Is this proof enough for you?"

L nodded his head slightly. Agreeing in a way that would not cause the others to think he was crazier than they already thought he was.

"So, based on that, maybe we are dealing with the same person after all. That would explain why we are hearing the same terms," Soichiro reasoned.

"I don't think so because, if this is the same person, he most likely wouldn't have responded to our video in the first place. And why would he let L live after he went to all that trouble to get him to appear on TV? The real Kira wants him dead. It makes no sense," Light said.

L was grateful that Light took over the explanations while he pulled himself together. To the other team members, it would appear that he had overreacted. They wouldn't know about Beyond. He needed to regain his composure quickly, and he couldn't do that while speaking.

"Then maybe there's some other connection between Kira and this new guy. They could have already met and decided to use this word to confuse us," Aizawa said.

"No, I'd say that's unlikely," L put the chair back on its legs and seated himself, "It's as Light says. If the two Kiras were connected, I don't think they would have given up on their plan to kill me. All of this suggests that the imposter has his own agenda and is acting independent of the first. I believe he wants to meet the original."

Then Light offered an idea that the word Shinigami could mean their killing power. Saying that showing their Shinigami to each other could mean they would need to demonstrate their power. L agreed with him to an extent, but he knew that it meant literally showing their Shinigami to one another. He would have to ask Beyond how only certain people were able to see him, and how the Second Kira's request would be accomplished. In the mean time, he passed it off as a code and told the team that they would air the video on television and wait to see if the real Kira responded in order to prevent the meeting of the Second Kira and the police. If he didn't, the Second Kira could reveal more information in an attempt to get the original to meet with him. He then ordered them to get as much information on the Second Kira as they could. In the mean time he would question Beyond.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

Beta'd by: darkangel1194

* * *

Beyond watched the door close as the last of the investigation team members went home for the night. He knew that now that L believed him, the questions would start pouring in. He had to be careful with how he answered them. He had to give the detective new information, but it couldn't be too much. He was very insightful. The answers had to be worded in just the right way.

* * *

L crouched in his chair and thought about how he would ask his questions. He badly wanted to know how the power of a Shinigami worked, but he couldn't just come out and ask 'How do Shinigami kill?' Beyond wouldn't answer something so direct. He would probably tell the detective to figure it out on his own. He would have to lead up to it. It was at that moment that the young Shinigami walked into the room.

"I presume Kira is using a Shinigami's power to commit murder," he said.

B made his way over to the couch and got comfortable before replying, "Obviously."

L had known his deduction was correct, but it was always best to have someone confirm it. "Is this power a physical object or an ability of some kind?"

"Lucky for you, it's an object."

Lucky was right. It would be much easier to convict Kira if there was physical evidence. B definitely had the power; he wouldn't be a Shinigami if he didn't. Did he carry it with him or leave it in a special hiding place?

"Where is your weapon?"

He shook his head, "Not yet Lawlipop."

L resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He would ignore the nickname, for the moment. It was merely a distraction tactic. B's reluctance to tell him the location of his weapon only made him more curious. Where did he keep it? If it was stored on his person, it would have to be something small. Did he have it stashed in the building somewhere? He didn't seem to use it much. Whenever L saw him, he was just sitting in a corner, observing the investigation or eating some jam. If he didn't have to use it often, what was its purpose? Why use it at all?

"Beyond, why do Shinigami kill?"

He seemed taken aback by the question, "What do you mean why? We are Gods of Death. It's what we do."

"There must be a reason. Certainly it is not for something as simple as entertainment."

"What makes you say that?"

"If it were used for fun, you would not sit in the corner when you have nothing to do. You would go out and use your weapon."

"How do you know that's not what I'm doing when I leave the room?" Beyond asked.

"I have cameras placed around the building. There are no blind spots, even from the roof. You have not left the building since you arrived, and no one who has been here has died."

"Even you should know that everything gets old after a while. Maybe I'm tired of watching humans die."

"You came here seeking to catch Kira. You don't want to kill him right away because it would be 'no fun' as you put it. This implies that it isn't entertaining to kill people-even the person who killed you. Yet you still kill, as was shown when you offered to kill someone to prove what you are. Why?"

Beyond was silent, debating whether or not to tell the truth. "It is a way of survival. A snake eats a mouse, a Shinigami kills a human."

"You don't eat them. What does killing do?"

"It adds to our lifespan. If I were to kill a human who was destined to die forty years from now, those unused forty years would be added to my lifespan. So long as we don't get too lazy, we can live forever."

Forever? Was that Kira's goal? To become an immortal god over the human race? "Is it the same with Kira?"

"No, Kira is human. He won't gain any life when he kills."

This was very good. This way, even if Kira were to kill every detective who got close to catching him, he would eventually die on his own. The only problem would be if he had a successor. Though the odds of Kira finding one as intelligent as himself were slim to none. About life spans…

"Are life spans set in stone or can they be changed?"

"For humans? They can change, but it's extremely rare. A Shinigami's power is supernatural interference. It is a human's actions that change its lifespan."

So Kira could be put to death even if, without the Shinigami's power, he would have lived to a very old age. But what was the power? What was the weapon? Kira would be much more easily caught if L knew that one detail. He needed that information. How could he ask without asking?

* * *

Beyond needed to give L some sort of information. Why Shinigami killed was interesting enough to capture his attention, but it wouldn't keep it for very long. B needed to give him something substantial to work with. Not only to speed up the Kira catching process, but also to keep L from thinking about the location of B's Death Note. Perhaps a riddle would do. L definitely wanted to know how Kira killed. It would have to be something about that. An idea presented itself in B's mind.

* * *

The young Shinigami sighed, bringing L's attention back to him. "I know you want to know what the power is. I won't tell you directly, but perhaps I can give you a hint:

_My father was born the same day_

_As the man who wrote Nature_

_Ambition has no risk_

_I will become famous_

_A performance is lost_

_He makes a scene_

_My words are clear-cut and accurate_

It shouldn't be too difficult for you to figure out." He rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

A riddle, huh? L would begin to work on it immediately.

* * *

That had gone rather well. L had learned something, and the Death Note was still a secret. Beyond would have to keep an eye on it from now on. He couldn't have someone else touch it when he wasn't looking. If someone else saw him, L might figure out the connection. Then again, he couldn't just take the book from where it rested on the shelf in the sitting room. There were cameras everywhere in the suite. L would notice and question him about it. It was quite the dilemma.

How do you keep something from being touched without drawing attention to it? Nothing had happened so far, but it was bound to become a problem. Perhaps he could subtly convince L to keep his belongings in a room that could not be accessed by other people. That might work, but at the same time it might draw suspicion. He should be safe until he thought of a good solution. All files were electronic. No one used paper and pen to write things down. They had no reason to stop doing this.

Deciding to put his plan into action later, B's thoughts were drawn to Kira. The boy knew about him now. That didn't change anything, or even affect his plans all that much. But now that he thought about it, it would be easier to catch Kira if he thought L knew nothing about the Death Note. Since this was true, it would be an easy thing to get Light to believe it. L's reaction to the Second Kira's video would further help his credibility. To let Kira know about this, he would have to travel to Light's house.

That wasn't possible at the moment. Beyond was attached to L. He couldn't go that far. It caused extreme pain to be very far away from the owner of your Death Note. That's why you couldn't just stay in the Shinigami Realm while they had it. You were forced into the Human World. He couldn't talk to Light in the hotel either. L's cameras would notice. Every public area was being watched. The hallways, the lobby, he even had some pointing down the street.

If he wanted to speak to Kira, he would have to wait until the boy started to go home. To fool the cameras, Beyond would fly away in the opposite direction that Kira went. When B was certain he was out of sight, he would circle around to Kira and have Ryuk alert the boy to his presence. He should be able to tolerate that amount of distance.

The only problem with that was he would have to wait at least another twenty-four hours. There really wasn't anything he could do about it. Asking L to drive in the direction of the Yagami house was out of the question. Doing something like that would cause loads of trouble. Light was already under suspicion. B would have to wait.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was late partly because of my laziness and partly because my brain decided to go away for the weekend, causing me to forget to send it to my Beta. It is also short. . Oh well, I figure slightly late and a little short is better than really late and the right length.

The riddle took me all of spring break to come up with. If anyone wants to try and solve it, feel free to. I just hope the answer makes sense to people besides myself. : P

Also, I went back and edited chapter three. Nothing much, just added a paragraph or so. I messed with chapter two too, but you can't really tell on that one. Nothing story wise has changed, but you can go back and look at it if you want. Any new people don't have to worry about it.

Thanks to all reviewers! Even rambling is appreciated. ^^

Tell me what you thought. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames will be used to roast marshmallows.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

**Darkangel1194**: Nope, she doesn't! But I do!

**Queenlucy15**: ...No you don't! Be careful, you'll get in trouble saying things like that!

**Darkangel1194**: Not if it's true! After all I a- 0.0

**Queenlucy15**: What?

**Darkangel1194**: It's chibi lawyers! Ruuunn! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! They are not mine!

**Queenlucy15**: *sweatdrops* Enjoy the chapter!

Beta'd by: darkangel1194

* * *

Light walked into the investigation room that afternoon full of apprehension. L was sitting in the same spot, in the same position as the day before. It looked like he hadn't even noticed Light, though that was impossible since everyone else had greeted him when he walked through the door. There was a glint of excitement in his eyes as he typed at his computer. Had he found something? Surely not. There was, as of yet, no response from the Second Kira. What could he be working so intently on? It couldn't be something as mundane as the latest list of dead criminals, not with L sporting such a look.

Light had been both confused and relieved by L's outburst the day before. The detective's reactions had been completely real. He had been truly shocked. If it had been an act, he wouldn't have been so over-the-top. You didn't have to act like that to show that you were surprised, and L knew that. He would have been more subdued if it had been a false reaction. He must have known that the Second Kira wasn't speaking in some strange code, but he didn't seem to know anything about the Death Note. Kira would have been caught by now if he did.

Light wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he was certain of one thing: L was the one being haunted by a Shinigami; he owned a Death Note. None of the other team members had shown any sign of thinking the odd choice of words was anything other than code, but L had even tried to give evidence pointing to Shinigami's existence. Although it was hard to imagine having a Shinigami around and not knowing what the Death Note was capable of, with L, it was entirely possible.

Ryuk had told Light that his Notebook was one of the few that had rules in it and a title on the front. Without rules and a title, it would seem like a normal notebook. The other Shinigami would have had to tell L what it was and how it worked. The scrawny detective was a very suspicious person. He would have had no reason to trust the word of a monster that only he could see. But yesterday, L had been given a reason to believe. Now that he knew the Death Note had a chance of being real, he may try to use it. Light needed to have a contingency plan in place before that happened. L would figure everything out quickly, especially if his Shinigami was more forthcoming with information than Ryuk had been. Light was sure that he was safe, for the moment. His Notebook was carefully hidden in a false-bottom drawer, rigged to be set ablaze if the drawer was opened incorrectly. It was the Second Kira he was worried about.

His capture would prove a Death Note was involved. It would be solid evidence. L couldn't tell anyone about his Death Note without giving the rest of the taskforce a reason to think he was Kira, but, if he found the Second Kira's Notebook, he could tell them all the information he had without being implicated. All it would take was a few well worded lies and half-truths. Light needed to keep a Death Note out of the hands of the police at all costs.

Finding out the Second Kira's identity wouldn't be too hard. Despite Light's wish for otherwise, he was likely to send more videos. There was bound to be a slip up. Physical evidence would turn up, and Light would need to take action. He may even have to steal the Death Notes and leave the country. It would prove his guilt, but it was better than being put on Death Row. He had to continue his mission. He would purge the world of evil. He would become God.

Light had come up with a few plans since Ryuk had made his comment about a 'new guy'. None of them could be put into action until he knew exactly how much information L had. What had the detective found? Should Light try to run or could the situation be manipulated to his advantage? Should he do nothing and continue to observe? It all depended on what the other Shinigami had told L.

There was a coffee machine in the kitchen. Light stood and made his way to the other side of the room. He glanced at L's monitor as he passed. It was a list of names and dates. Light recognized a few of them. Authors, famous playwrights, and artists. What did that have to do with the investigation?

He went into the kitchen and prepared his drink. When he returned to the main room, L was staring at his computer screen, mumbling quietly to himself. Light passed nearby again and heard a few words, "...performance. A show, actors…Act?"

Was he communicating with his Shinigami or merely thinking aloud? A few minutes later L started tapping at his keyboard again. Light continued to watch him, but he gleaned nothing more from L's actions. He continued making plans for escape routes and such on the way home that night. He had been deep in thought when Ryuk's voice caught his attention.

"Why not just watch from the Shinigami Realm?"

The young mass murderer glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before speaking. "Who are you talking to?" Obviously it was another Shinigami. Could it be…?

"It's the Shinigami that follows L around. His name is…..Shiine."

It was.

What was he doing here? Why did Ryuk hesitate before saying his name? Was it fake? Why would a God of Death need an alias?

Light turned into a nearby alley. "What does he want?"

"We were just talking. He says he came to the human world to get a closer look at what you were doing. It is pretty boring back home. I don't blame him for coming here."

"Did he pick L to haunt on purpose?"

Ryuk glanced at the seemingly empty space next to him and chuckled before replying, "He thought it would be more fun to be in the middle of everything."

So he was similar to Ryuk then, looking for entertainment. That didn't make his life any easier. Was Shiine as unwilling to give information as the apple-lover? "What did you tell L?"

* * *

The young Death God looked confused, "How did he know I said something?" He tilted his head slightly.

Ryuk shrugged, "Beats me," he looked at Light, "He wants to know how you knew he said something."

"It doesn't matter. What did he say?"

Beyond grinned proudly, "I just gave him something to waste time with. A small riddle. He looked bored."

"A riddle?"

"What kind of riddle?" Light was really impatient today.

"Nothing important. It doesn't really have to do with anything, though L doesn't know that." A joke huh? Maybe Ryuk should try something like that…Nah, Light would just take away his apples.

"He says it's just a joke he played. Nothing important."

Light didn't say anything for a minute. Then, "Why hasn't L tested his Death Note yet?"

Beyond smiled again. "He doesn't know he has one."

What? "How did you pull that off?"

"It wasn't hard really. My Notebook doesn't look like anything special. I just made it seem like it fell off a desk or something. L has it stashed somewhere."

"Henh, Henh, Henh, nice one, kid."

"Tell me what he's saying!" There's that temper. He'd ignored Light too long.

"L doesn't know about the Death Note," Ryuk chuckled.

Light's eyebrows rose in surprise, "How?" Ryuk told him what Beyond had said. "Good. We need to keep it that way."

"No problem. It's not like I'm going to say anything."

"Yeah, it'd be no fun if Light got caught now."

Beyond suddenly started looking uncomfortable. His expression quickly changed to a grimace. "I gotta go. This stupid connection with the owner is starting to bug me."

Ryuk nodded, "I know what you mean. See ya around."

Beyond waved a little and flew away. He said he came to the Human World to get a closer look at the Kira case, but Ryuk thought he was a big, fat liar. If he wanted to watch, he could have just stayed in the Shinigami Realm. It was a lot of trouble to get a second Death Note and come to the Human World. It wasn't worth it if you weren't going to do anything.

The kid had a fake name for apples sake! It's not like names were all that important to a Death God. A Death Note wouldn't work on one of them. He had to be stirring up something. He seemed like the troublemaking type.

Ah well. If the kid didn't want Light to know his name, Ryuk wouldn't tell.

At least until he really had to. Beyond's secrets weren't worth keeping if it cost Ryuk some of his entertainment.

* * *

Hopefully that would be enough. Beyond had to leave, _now_. There was a very painful pulling sensation telling him to head back towards the base. L must be moving in the direction the cameras had seen him go. He hadn't been gone for very long. Maybe the detective had cracked that riddle. He had to catch up to L and get in front of him. If he was looking for Beyond and didn't find him soon, he would get suspicious. He flew quickly. L was obviously in a car, and B had to strain his wings to move fast enough.

He caught up to the detective about a mile past the base. He made sure to stay out of sight and went a few blocks ahead, landing on the ground. He was outside a bookshop. How convenient. Deciding it was best if he looked like he had actually been doing something, he walked in. He kept an eye out for L's car, and when it appeared around the corner, he fazed through the door back outside.

He pretended not to notice the car and started walking down the street. L will have seen him come out of the shop. Either he would stop the car and try to get Beyond's attention, or he would drive passed him and wait to speak to him later. B bet it would be the latter. There were quite a few people out, and speaking to him here would only cause problems.

L already looked like a drug addict. It wouldn't help matters if he started talking to thin air. Someone may call the police on him.

Beyond chuckled a bit. That was one of the few scenarios where being an anonymous detective became a bad thing. No one would arrest him if his face were known. This had a very low chance of actually happening though, and even if it did, Quillsh would get him out soon enough. All records of arrest would be disposed of. It would only end up being an embarrassing waste of time. Not very damaging at all.

L's car passed right by him, as expected. Beyond would walk around for a little while longer before heading back. He didn't want to wait too long though. He wanted to see the answer L had come up with. There was only a small chance that the insomniac was wrong, but a B could hope. It would be something to rub in his face, at least.

And, if he was right, Kira was a little closer to being caught. Beyond knew it was only a little though. It's not like the answer was 'a killing notebook' or anything like that. It really was only a hint. Beyond hadn't promised anything more than that.

If Misa did as expected, L would have a chance to see the two Kira's meet. It was obvious that was what the Second Kira wanted. She would probably send a message with a code saying to meet her somewhere. She wasn't very intelligent, so it wouldn't be too hard to figure out. If L had the right information, he could catch them both in one day. But that depended on whatever answer the detective had come up with, and how he used that answer when trying to figure out the code Misa would most likely send.

Everything depended on how quickly L figured it out. If L was really lucky, Misa would have her Death Note with her, and the Kira case would be solved within the week. If it was on Light's side, however, L would have to wait for another opportunity.

* * *

A/N: Well, look at that. I actually updated on time. Must be because school's out. Thank God for that. Does anyone remember that little sister I complained about a while back? I have to say that (for the moment) she is awesome. She helped me out with this when I got writer's block. This is a really big deal 'cause she had to read it and listen to me rant about it for an hour, and she hates anime. (Weird isn't it?) The girl thinks it is the dumbest thing ever invented. (In my opinion, it's only because I haven't found one her style yet.)

Review?

**Darkangel1194**: Yeah! Review, or else…. *laughs evilly while pulling out a large knife*

**Queenlucy15**: Omg! Put that away! *slaps knife out of darkangels hand* Wait…where did that come from anyway? You don't have pockets…..

**Darkangel1194**: Err…. Hehe, it's a secret?

**Queenlucy15**: 0.o …..


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

Beta'd by: darkangel1194

A/N: Look at this! Two chapters in less than a week. I never write that quickly. ^^ Thanks to my reviewers. I literally started dancing in the kitchen when I read them.

Rein Mikazuki made a good guess, but not quite. Though I'm pretty sure that's how the story would have gone had she been right.

To my anonymous reviewer, TOTALRANDOMCHICKUDONTKNOWLOL: I'm still unsure if I will write a lemon. This being my first fanfiction, I have never written one. Maybe, I don't know right now.

I actually had to go back on the internet and re-figure out my own riddle…a bit sad isn't it? That's what I get for not looking at it for nearly two months.

* * *

L had worked on the riddle all night. Despite this, he had come up with few results.

The first part was,

_My father was born the same day_

_As the man who wrote Nature_

It seemed pretty straightforward. Nature was the name of a book by Ralph Waldo Emerson. His birthday was May 25, 1803. A little research on the internet showed that the only other man of note with this birthday was Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

Despite knowing who the 'father' was, L didn't find anything when researching the next line-

_Ambition has no risk_

-and the names of his children. Instead, the name of a play written by Bulwer-Lytton appeared. L had deduced that the use of the word 'father' did not indicate the man's children, but the books and plays he had written. The name of the play where the line originated was Richelieu, Act III. Sc. I. to be exact.

_I will become famous_

This one was too broad to be a quote. It could have come from anywhere. It seemed to be referring to the play that the earlier quote had come from, but Richelieu wasn't a very well-known work. After agonizing over it for most of the morning, he decided to come back to it later. Sometimes leaving a difficult task alone for a little while allowed new ideas to form. This line didn't seem to hold any underlying meaning. It would be acceptable to move on to the next line and keep this one in mind to try to find a connection between them.

_A performance is lost_

_He makes a scene_

This part had given L even more trouble. While thinking over it, he absently noted that the taskforce had arrived. He ignored them. They knew what to do and he was working on something that had the potential to lead to the capture of one of the Kiras. At first, he thought they were another quote, but searching them revealed nothing of relevance. He had searched the internet for a few hours before concluding that he wouldn't find anything there.

Light came in while he was doing this, but he was ignored, same as the others. L couldn't just skip it like he did the earlier line. There was obviously something important hidden here. He glanced over at Beyond to see if he would give anything away. The young Shinigami was looking at the rest of the taskforce, going over their work as they went along. He glanced in L's direction when he noticed his staring, but said nothing. Eventually L started thinking aloud. He found that this sometimes helped to organize his thoughts. "A scene and a performance. A show…actors. Act? An act in a play? An act is lost…"

It clicked then. 'Ambition has no risk' came from Act III scene I. If you added a scene and took away an act, you got Act II scene II. That must be where the answer was hidden. It was a quote from the play. The line L had skipped was 'I will become famous'. The most famous line from that scene was 'The pen is mightier than the sword'.

_My words are clear-cut and accurate_

That one was rather obvious, though it seemed completely false. Not really anything to find there. Perhaps Beyond was gloating over the fact that he understood exactly what was going on and how his riddle connected to Kira.

So the answer was 'The pen is mightier than the sword'? What did he mean by that? L did not use violence when investigating unless a suspect tried to run, and he rarely used torture. If he did, the techniques were minor and not too damaging. Kira was the one who used killing to change the world, not him. If B wanted to preach about how it's better to use thoughts and opinions instead of force, he should talk to the mass murderer, not the detective trying to catch him.

Had the entire day been wasted? He hadn't gained anything from the riddle except for what looked like a message that wasn't meant for him.

No, that couldn't be all it was. Beyond wanted to catch Kira too. He must have meant it in another way. What else could it be? Did he mean literally? A pen actually being more powerful than a sword? How did that relate to Kira? Did it somehow have to do with the way Kira killed? That was only if he was lucky. It didn't seem very likely. What could you do with a pen? You could probably stab someone with it, but it wasn't really deadly unless you aimed well. Besides, all of Kira's victims had died of heart attacks.

This was going nowhere. He didn't have enough information. Much as didn't want to do it, he would probably have to ask Beyond to elaborate on his thoughts. L didn't see a connection.

Speaking of the ex-serial killer, where was he? L didn't see him anywhere. The taskforce was still present, though Light had left already. He was still a student and needed his rest. He couldn't stay for half the night like his father. L rewound the video feed from the cameras and watched for B. The cameras showed him standing on the roof of the hotel. He grew bright red wings and flew away about fifteen minutes before Light left. That almost an hour ago. The panda-eyed detective felt something akin to worry bubble up in his chest. What was he doing? Had Beyond decided to reveal himself to the teen?

Beyond had traveled in the opposite direction as Light, but that could easily be a ploy to make L think he was going somewhere else. He could have left early in order to meet Light on his route. Why would he suddenly decide to leave the hotel? He hadn't left in all of the time he had been there. If he wanted to be away from the detective, he went to another floor. Something had happened to make him leave the sight of the cameras.

L thought over the day. It hadn't been very eventful. All they were doing was going through old reports and waiting to see if the Second Kira would make a move. What reason would Beyond have for leaving unless it was to talk to Light? The boy _was_ a Kira suspect.

L would worry about the whys later. Now he needed to see of he could find Beyond. He called Watari to get the car. They would drive in the direction the cameras had last seen him. If he wasn't nearby, they would check around Light's route home.

"Where are you going Ryuzaki?" Aizawa asked.

"A bakery nearby, I won't be gone long."

"Why can't you tell Watari to do it? You're supposed to be the head detective leading this case, not spacing out all day long and going out for candy!"

L ignored the irritable man and made his way out of the building and to the car. He pointed Watari in the right direction. They didn't go very far before L spotted Beyond coming out of a book shop.

Is that where he'd been all this time? Looking for something to do? Well, B didn't really have much in forms of entertainment. L couldn't talk to him and he couldn't pick things up when the taskforce was around. All they would see was a floating object. He just watched them all day long. That had to get boring.

Still, he could have spoken to Light. There had been plenty of time to meet the Kira suspect, have a short conversation, and go to a bookstore, especially if Beyond could fly. L would watch Light even more closely during the next few days. Though it was unlikely, he might show signs of knowing about Beyond. If they had spoken, he needed to know what had been said. Beyond had been saying he wanted Kira captured from the start, but he could have been lying. His main objective could be L's death. Even with L's suspicions, it would be best to get B something to do. He couldn't sit around and do nothing all day.

L told Watari to go to the nearest bakery and an electronics shop before going back to the hotel. He couldn't return empty-handed after Aizawa had made such a fuss. He would get Beyond a computer. Hoping he would use it to help with the investigation would only be wishful thinking. B already knew who Kira was and wouldn't want to do anything he deemed unnecessary. At least he could goof around on the internet. It would be carefully monitored, of course. L needed to know if he made contact with any of the Kiras. Maybe, if he wanted, L would give him some minor cases he could solve. Perhaps it would relieve some of B's apparent boredom.

They returned to the hotel before Beyond did. L set up the computer in a back room, away from the others. He would tell B about it when the taskforce left.

L's look-alike arrived a short time later. By this time it was late at night, so he sent the taskforce home. It was still a little earlier than he usually let them go, but he needed to speak to Beyond without the worry that someone would walk in on them.

When the door closed behind the last person, B turned and looked at L expectantly. "Well?" He knew L had solved the riddle.

"I don't see how a pen relates to Kira."

Ruby eyes stared back at him and a smirk twisted its way onto Beyond's face, "You wouldn't. That might change soon."

This was getting annoying. B would answer his questions with evasions and promises that something was about to happen, but he was always very vague about it. Speaking to him created more questions than it answered. L had already predicted the Second Kira would become impatient and send more videos. B likely thought something would be shown at that time that would make the riddle's answer make more sense. It wouldn't be long. Judging from the Second Kira's actions so far, he wasn't a very patient person. He would send something soon.

Now was probably the best time to show Beyond his gift. Hopefully it would give him something to do so he wouldn't feel the need to leave the hotel they were staying in. L wanted him close, in case something happened and his copy-cat felt the need to give him information.

* * *

He'd figured it out. Oh well. Catching Kira was a little more important. At least this way he could kill L faster. It was kind of funny really: the faster L caught the mass murderer whose prime objective was to kill him, the faster he would be killed by Beyond.

L looked a little put out at his reply, but instead of demanding an actual answer he beckoned for B to follow him into another room. It was meant to be a bedroom, but L had modified it into a study. There was a laptop on the desk. It looked new. L gestured to it, "You can use this whenever you like. I noticed that you don't have much to do. We will install a special lock on the door so that none of the taskforce members will walk in here and see a computer running by itself."

What did L mean by giving him this? Why? What was his actual motive? B's face darkened when realization hit him.

That bastard!

He wanted Beyond out of the way! He wanted him to stay locked in this room, away from the investigation. He didn't want to be bothered by a dead ex-successor, a failure. Give a child a toy and it will leave you alone. Is that how L saw him? A child wanting attention? The very thought was absurd.

"You could even solve some cases using some of my detective codes, if you want. They would give you something to do at least."

Every muscle in B's body went rigid as he resisted the urge to hit the other man. He was supposed to be working with L to catch Kira, not beating him to a bloody pulp. But really, cases? Despite being groomed for the job and acting like one as a cover for Naomi Misora, he was not a detective. He hadn't wanted the job since he was a child. Not since A died. The very offer was a terrible insult.

He would not do L's job for him.

Instead of tearing the other man a new one, he willed his wings to appear and flew through the ceiling. He would not leave the building, but he wasn't going to stay in there with _**him**_. There was too great a chance L would end up injured.

* * *

L didn't understand the sudden anger in Beyond's eyes. He tried to explain why he had gotten the computer, but it didn't help. Then he had offered to let him take some of his cases. That just made it ten times worse. Those red wings he had seen earlier had popped out of nowhere and Beyond had flown away.

What had he said? All he'd done was give him something to do. L didn't see how that would anger him…..Well, in hindsight; the cases may not have been the best idea. Beyond detested Wammy's House and what it stood for. He wouldn't want to do detective work.

But he had shown signs of anger before that. L sighed. Other people were so complicated. Their emotions were illogical. He had thought it would be a good thing to give Beyond something to do besides watch others work on a case, but it had only angered him. He needed some cake.

* * *

A/N: Poor L. He tries to do something nice and Beyond totally misinterprets it.

Review?

**Darkangel1194**: I'm BAAACK!

**Queenlucy15**: No! Go away! You're scaring my readers!

**Darkangel1194**: But, I'm entertaining them! They aren't afraid of meh!

**Queenlucy15**: Sure, whatever you say. If they care, they can ask for you back in the reviews.

**Darkangel1194**: *sniffle* o.o


	8. Chapter 8

Is Beyond in the anime? Did L somehow end up not being dead and return in the second half? Did Matt survive being shot? No? Then I don't own Death Note.

Beta'd by: darkangel1194

**Darkangel1194**:….

**Queenlucy15**: …..? Darkangel? You ok?

**Darkangel1194**: …. No, my antidepressant/bipolor meds aren't workin... But thanks for wanting me to stay on here guys!

* * *

As Light walked home that night, he wondered about the Shinigami he knew as Shiine. He hadn't sounded like he was going to reveal him to L. Like Ryuk, he seemed like he was only there for entertainment. But really, that could have been because Ryuk had been acting as Shiine's mouthpiece. Then there was the problem about his name possibly being an alias. It was very suspicious.

Still, if everything he said was true, it would explain L's odd behavior. He had been surprised by the mention of Shinigami because he hadn't yet accepted their existence. He had tried to show that Shinigami exist by giving evidence because he had been in the presence if one for who-knows-how-long and knew the Second Kira had been giving out very valuable information. He hadn't arrested Kira because he didn't know about the Death Note.

Everything Shiine had said matched up with what had happened. There wasn't anything suspicious about that. The only real problem was the possibility of a false name. There wasn't any need for that from a Shinigami. Light couldn't do anything with their names. Why have an alias? It unnerved him that he couldn't figure it out. There was a chance the hesitation with saying Shiine's name had been because Ryuk was unsure of how to read it. Light had no way of knowing what language the Shinigami Eyes showed the name to be written in. But it wasn't likely. He needed to have that backup plan in place. It was dangerous for him to have doubts about something and no way out.

Light would make sure he couldn't do anything else before he implemented it though. It would be a last resort. For now, he would go along with what Shiine had said.

* * *

It had been over two weeks since the Second Kira had sent his last message. Beyond had been avoiding L for most of that time. During the day he would watch the investigation. At night he would disappear somewhere in the hotel.

L honestly hadn't meant to make him angry. He hadn't apologized, however. He had done nothing wrong. If an apology was what B wanted, he was going to have to at least explain why it needed to be given.

"Ryuzaki," Watari's voice broke his train of thought. "Sakura TV has received another video and a journal from the Second Kira. I have just arrived from picking them up." The elderly man handed him the items. "I have contacted the rest of the team as well. They are on their way."

L nodded his thanks and started the video on his computer. It was very short. The only thing it said was that the Second Kira wanted the journal showed on television. L then opened up the small binder to the front page.

2003, May

1st Already told friend that I don't want to go to the festival in GW junior high, but I got an invitation anyways.

4th Went to the Super Arena with friend to watch Mo Mosume concert.

5th Last day of the break. Nothing to do at home.

7th School started, but I asked friends to take notes for me in class and I rested at home.

10th Refused friends' invitation to a drinking party because it's too far away.

13th Friend came to borrow my CD and I lent it to her.

16th Forgot to do paper so copied from friend's paper.

19th Haven't read Jump for a while. It's so interesting.

22nd My friend and I showed off our notebooks in Aoyama.

23rd I ran into HIM in the cafeteria. He was eating pork cut.

24th Went shopping with friends in Shibuya.

28th There's going to be something better coming out than the ps2 called ps3!

30th Confirmed our Shinigami at the home game at the Tokyo Dome.

There weren't any other pages. This was obviously an attempt to meet with the original Kira.

Well…

L wasn't sure what to do with this. There wasn't even an attempt at hiding his intentions. It was unbelievable. It couldn't be this easy to catch one of them. If this was aired on TV, they would have to cancel the game and set up checkpoints on the road leading to the Tokyo Dome. The original Kira definitely wouldn't show. He was too intelligent for that. The Second Kira might but… No, surely he wasn't this stupid. There had to be something else there, hidden in the words of the diary.

Three places were mentioned: Aoyama, Shibuya, and the Tokyo Dome. Even if there was a code, the meeting was probably going to take place in one of these areas. L could set up surveillance at each area. If they watched these places carefully, they could catch one of them. Only people with the Shinigami's power would know which day was the correct one, but that didn't matter if all the places were being watched.

L didn't know how the Kiras would recognize one another. Did they have an ability that helped them do that? Maybe the Shinigami Eyes. Would they show if someone had a Shinigami's power? Then again, how to recognize one another could be a code in the diary and this line of thought was a waste of time.

L looked at the diary entry again. He made a mental note to tell whoever went out for surveillance to keep an eye out for people with things that could relate to a high school with the initials GW; Mo Mosume merchandise; Jump magazine; people eating pork cut; and people in video game stores at all of these locations. In Aoyama they would also look out for people with notebooks, and they would observe people in clothing stores in Shibuya.

"What's that?"

L glanced up in surprise. That was the first time Beyond had spoken to him in since he had received the computer. He was scowling at him. "The Second Kira sent something."

B's scowl morphed into slight curiosity and he walked over. He read the journal page over L's shoulder and scoffed.

"What do you think? Is it real?"

Red eyes glared at him. "Of course it's real! Subtlety is just not the Second Kira's forte. At least he had brains enough to use code."

"So there is a code." And apparently it was a rather obvious one. Beyond knew it and Kira would know it. It had to have to do with the murder weapon. That was the only thing that Beyond, Kira, and the Second Kira all had in common.

"Yes L. It's very odd that someone trying to keep secrets from the police would communicate using a code. Now that we've cleared that up, let's move on to you figuring it out."

"I do not appreciate your sarcasm, Beyond."

He rolled his eyes. "And I'm supposed to care?"

"I don't understand your sudden hostility."

Beyond raised an eyebrow, "Really? The World's Greatest Detective doesn't understand? That seems to be happening a lot lately."

"Tell me why you are upset so it can be fixed," L growled.

"I'm not a fucking machine!" B shouted, "I'm not broken! You can't fix me!"

"What have I done to make you so angry?"

"You treat me like a child! I will not be sent away by distraction tactics!"

"Distraction? I have done nothing of the sort."

"LIAR! The computer! You want me to stay in that room and use that damned computer! I am on this case whether you like it or not. You can't just stuff me in a room and say 'Here's a toy Beyond. Stay in here. While your at it, do my job for me.' I won't stand for it!"

L was stunned. That was how B had seen it? "You didn't have to use it if you didn't want to," he said quietly, "and I shouldn't have offered the cases. I thought you would enjoy having something to do other than observe the case. If you want to work on catching Kira, I have no problem with it. It could be something to relieve your boredom."

* * *

Beyond didn't want to believe it. L was lying again. He was just trying to make him behave so that he didn't have to put up with B's 'temper tantrum'.

But what if he wasn't? He looked so sincere…

No, L didn't care if he was bored or not. He was just being manipulative again. He couldn't be trusted.

* * *

Beyond glared, "Why? Tell me why you suddenly care if I'm bored or not!"

"I know how boring it is to sit and do nothing. It is not a pleasant experience."

"That can't be all it is! You don't do anything unless you get something. What do you get out of it?"

Beyond really despised him didn't he? For some reason, the thought saddened him. "Nothing."

"You're lying again!"

"I'm not!" L growled, "What could I get from this? Think! There is nothing!"

Beyond's face became calculating. After a time, his eyes narrowed and he turned on his heel, leaving the room.

L wasn't sure if B had finally believed him, or merely decided that L wasn't going to tell the truth and given up on the conversation.

* * *

"I'll go too."

L's hand hesitated over his teacup for a moment after hearing Light's statement. If he was Kira, he understood the message hidden in the diary. But why try and go there? He had to know that meeting someone there would only make him seem more suspicious. Anyone Light came in contact with at these locations could be the Second Kira. Maybe he would try and signal the Second Kira in some way. L would tell Matsuda to keep a close eye on him when they were out.

* * *

B hadn't said anything after L had spoken earlier, but he didn't seem mad anymore. Maybe they could finally have a civil conversation again. It was very tiring, trying to work while having someone who hated and was angry with you hovering nearby. It made it hard to concentrate. Not to mention, L didn't like having Beyond mad at him. It was bad enough to know that he was hated. Anger just made it a thousand times worse.

"…that leaves us with only the dome on the thirtieth," Aizawa said, snapping L back to reality.

Before L could say anything in response an alert sounded on his computer and a W appeared on the screen, "Ryuzaki, apparently Sakura TV has just received another message from the Second Kira. The postmark date shows the twenty-third."

The word 'Kira' showed on the screen, "_I am happy to say that I've found Kira. I want to thank the people at the TV station and the police department."_

If this was true, the only event in the diary that corresponded to the mailing date on the twenty-third is the entry about Aoyama. Light and Matsuda were the only members of the taskforce who went out for surveillance that day. Light was sounding more and more like Kira. Still, if he wanted to be fair, there was no evidence saying it happened in Aoyama at all.

Now would be an ideal time to contact the Second Kira as the police. If they could make a deal with him, they could get Kira's real name. It was unlikely, but worth a shot.

While the rest of the taskforce worked on that, L would go over all the surveillance footage from Aoyama. Maybe he could find something suspicious. He had a lot of work to do.

* * *

"Mr. Yagami? Would you please tell Mr. Mogi to start following Light? I want to keep tabs on him."

"You want to tail my son?"

"Yes that's right. The chances are very slim, but if he is Kira the Second Kira might try and meet with him."

"Very well," Soichiro sighed and walked out of the room.

"I'm beginning to wonder if Ryuzaki's even human. The guy never sleeps," Aizawa said.

"I saw him sleeping in that exact position the other day."

"Hmm, are you human L? You don't sleep very often and you practically run on sugar," Beyond commented.

L said nothing, only continuing to watch the video feed and eating a popsicle.

Beyond sighed. Trying to mess with L was no fun when he got like this. He was completely focused. He probably barely heard what the people behind him were saying. It wasn't like he was going to find anything in those videos. Misa hadn't spoken to Light yet. She was a little smarter than they had given her credit for. She apparently knew better than to approach Light in that situation.

L's searching was a waste of time. Not like B was going to tell him though. He couldn't say how he knew the information without giving away who Kira was. L already suspected Light, but suspecting was very different from actually knowing.

* * *

A/N: I am on a roll! Three chapters in one month. *dances*

Review?

**Queenlucy15**: Well, it looks like you get to stay. The reviewers seem to like you.

**Darkangel1194**: Yay!...You don't sound very happy about that. *pouts* You want me to leave? *chibi eyes of doom*

**Queenlucy15**: Ack! No! No! I'm glad you're staying! Don't give me that look! Hey, how about we skip around the mall singing again? You like doing that right?

**Darkangel1194**: WOO!

**Queenlucy15** **and** **Darkangel1194**: *skips around in the mall singing Creature Feature songs*


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

Beta'd by: Darkangel1194

**Darkangel1194**: We're baaack! ^^

**Queenlucy15**: Yup! Just like a bad penny!

**Darkangel1194**: Uh…How is a penny bad?

**Queenlucy15**: Err…It's just a figure of speech…

**Darkangel1194**: *ignoring comment* I mean, a penny is money. Money gets you what you want, therefore, money is good. By that logic, there can be no such thing as a bad penny. *continues ranting*

**Queenlucy15**: *sighs*Enjoy the show. ^^

**Darkangel1194**: It's not a show. It's a chapter. Though technically…

**Queenlucy15**: AARRGG!

* * *

L searched through the cabinets, looking for his jelly beans. Why is it that you could always find something except for when you started looking for it? It was ridiculous. They would probably be in the very last cabinet.

"More sweets? You just finished a whole cake an hour ago."

He barely spared a glance at Beyond and continued to search through the cabinets. "Sugar helps me think."

"You just use them to stay awake."

"Exactly, and they taste good."

"You shouldn't eat so much of them. You'll get diabetes or something."

"I'll be fine." There they were, hiding in that last cabinet, just like he'd thought. So irritating. Things like this were the reason Watari usually brought him his food. Too bad he was out at the moment, retrieving another video from the Second Kira. It would have saved him some time that could have been spent looking over reports.

"Suit yourself. It's not my problem if you die before you were meant to," Beyond smirked slightly.

"Hn."

Watari arrived with the video a short while later. L watched it on his own and came to the conclusion that the Kiras had met. It seemed scripted. The words didn't match the Second Kira at all. He'd been trying to meet Kira, even going so far as to risk being caught by the police by sending that diary. He wouldn't just suddenly stop for no reason. The video the police had aired shouldn't have produced this result.

If that was what the Second Kira was going to do, why didn't he do it at the beginning? Probably, he didn't think ahead that far. He had most definitely met the original and been told to say these things.

So Kira wanted the investigators to think that the killing power was going to be passed to more people? That certainly wasn't true. Kira wouldn't want to deal with more people like the Second Kira. That would be enough trouble by itself. The more people who had the power, the higher the chance that one of them would be caught. Kira wouldn't risk it.

In fact, the Shinigami Eyes were probably the only thing keeping the Second Kira alive. What the police had said in their video was true. Whoever it was would probably be killed when they'd reached the end of their usefulness. If Kira were Light, then he could try and get the Second Kira close to him and see his face. Once L was dead, the Second Kira would be killed as well. This would ensure that Kira's biggest threat and the one person who knew who he was would be eliminated.

L had few options. He could stay hidden in the hotel and make sure not to let anyone he didn't recognize see him. Mogi was keeping an eye on Light at this point in time, but he didn't have the profiling or observational skills needed to see if someone had the potential to be the Second Kira. If L went with this option, Mogi would be his only way to look out for any new people in Light's life.

He could start following Light in person again. That one was riskier, but more likely to produce results. He was the best person on his team when it came to being able to see a potential suspect. Light now had a very high probability of being Kira. If the Second Kira came around and L was there to see it, he would most likely react in some way - negatively if he was worried about L noticing, or positively if he thought L was going to die soon.

Now would be a good time to try and appeal to Light's emotions. They'd known each other long enough for what he had in mind to seem plausible. It was a long shot. Kira wasn't likely to spare his life merely because they were friends. The chances that it would work were less than one percent, but it was worth a try.

When he showed the video to Light and the team, he would pretend it was his first time seeing it as well. It would be a good idea to let Light think his words afterward were his first reaction.

* * *

"You're not Kira. That is, it would be a problem if you were Kira because…I feel that you are the first friend I have ever had."

What? Beyond stared at the detective in shock. Why was he saying something like that? He can't think of Light as a friend! He was the main Kira suspect for crying out loud!

"I know what you mean. We have a lot in common."

A lot in common? The only things these two have in common are being geniuses, stubbornness, being justice freaks, being manipulative bastards, their thought processes, not having serious romantic relationships, decent acting skills…damn that was more than he'd thought.

"We should play tennis again sometime."

Tennis? He'd forgotten about that. There was another thing to add to the list. Damn, did L really think of them as friends? That could really be a problem. He'd be more reluctant to see Light as Kira. Light on the other hand, would just exploit that weakness.

Besides, B just plain didn't like it. What made Light so special? Sure he was intelligent, but L had grown up with a house full of geniuses. He'd never made friends with any of them. He hadn't even seemed to like them. Was it his looks? Sure the kid looked great, but L wasn't one to base things on appearance. His charm? L had to know that he was a great actor. Almost none of his words were what he truly felt.

Why Light?

* * *

"What was that crap about you being friends with the Yagami kid?"

L glanced at Beyond distractedly as he ate his pastry. "If Light is Kira, and he comes to think of me as a friend, there is a small possibility he will reveal something to me that he wouldn't have otherwise - perhaps as a way to try and win me over to his side. It is very unlikely, but worth the effort should it pay out."

"So you lied to him."

"Yes." Was it so important? It's not as if Beyond had anything to do with it. "Why do you ask?"

"You shouldn't lie about stuff like that L. Toying with people's emotions…It isn't right."

L looked at him blandly. "I don't believe you are the best person to lecture me about what is right and what is wrong."

Beyond bristled at the words. "What I did was completely different and you know it!"

"Yes, you killed three innocent people, and I lied to someone who is most likely a mass murderer."

"They were going to die then anyway!"

"You could simply have manipulated events so that they would die when you wanted. The times of death were rather specific."

"Think what you want. Manipulating people's emotions is still worse. You have no idea how that could affect them. What if you caused them to get depressed and commit suicide or something? It'd be your fault!" Beyond said angrily.

L hunched over in his chair. He got the feeling that B wasn't speaking about Light. "My apologies about what happened to A, but Light is a different case entirely. He is emotionally stronger-"

"Avery was not weak! You said something to him! Whatever it was killed him! He was fine until you talked to him! After that, he was always locked in his room or in the library, acting like he would explode if he didn't study every waking moment of the day," Beyond's eyes became distant as he remembered those horrible last few weeks.

L knew it was his fault. He didn't need to be reminded. "I didn't know he would have such a reaction. If I could take back the words said on that day, then I would."

"Bullshit! You don't care at all! If you were upset, then it was because you lost your best candidate for a successor."

L muttered a few words under his breath, "You seem to think of me as an emotionless monster," louder, he said, "I do have the ability to feel remorse. I am sorry about what happened to A, but I cannot change what happened. He is dead. Nothing I do will bring him back."

"It doesn't matter if you can bring him back or not! Avery deserves justice! As far as I'm concerned, you're his murderer!" His eyes widened for a second before he scowled and left the room.

So he did plan on killing L. When would that happen? Just after the Kira case? If Shinigami killed by heart attack, that would be the only way for him to get credit for the death- unless he planned on doing it personally. L wasn't sure if they could do that though. Every case he'd ever come across had a human murderer. If Shinigami could kill in person, they didn't do it often.

* * *

Stupidstupidstupid!

How could he have done something so idiotic? He'd been caught up in his anger. He should have been more careful with what he said. Now L knew for a fact that he was going to be killed. He couldn't do anything about it, but he knew it was coming. Now he had time to prepare for it. He would be ready when it came.

Ugh! Beyond just couldn't believe he'd done that.

And L! The lying bastard! He just had to keep lying like that with that sad look on his face. Didn't he know when to drop the act? There's no way he cared about what happened to Avery. Whatever he said made A think he wasn't good enough. He'd driven himself into the ground after speaking with L. No one can work like that for long. If L had cared at all, he would have known that A was already working as hard as he could and didn't need to be told whatever it was that made him work himself dead.

Beyond sighed. He'd gone over this a hundred times. L didn't care. A died because of him. L wasn't affected by it. He was tired of thinking about it. He'd thought about it for ten years.

When L was dead he wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Avery will have gotten his justice and Beyond would no longer feel this way. He wouldn't be so angry all the time. He wouldn't feel guilty about not being able to stop the numbers from decreasing. He could be happy again.

He wanted the Kira case to be over already.

* * *

A/N: I apologize for the long wait. I had a long drawn-out excuse for you, but I can't remember what it was. :P Ah well. On the bright side of life, we got a bunny rabbit! ^^ On the down side, Mr. Boss man doesn't want him in the house.

Perhaps your reviews will change his mind.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

A/N: *hiding behind the couch* I'm _sooo_ sorry! I didn't mean for this to be so late! And I even promised someone it would be out weeks ago… I feel bad about the delay. I have a decent excuse though. I was grounded…again. :P Today is the first day I've had to get on the computer in over three weeks. Due to my wanting to get this out immediately this chapter has not been beta'd. Please point out any problems you see. The bad news is that not a whole lot happens this chapter. The good news is that a good chunk of the next chapter has been written. Hopefully, it'll be out more quickly than this one was.

* * *

"Hey, Matsuda was snooping around your junk earlier," Beyond mumbled as we walked into the room.

L glanced at him. He seemed very upset. Understandable, considering the conversation they'd had earlier. "What junk?"

"In the living room."

"Everything in that room is okay for them to use. If I didn't want them near it, I would have put it in my room."

Beyond merely scowled and plopped into one of the many large chairs in the suite. "Whatever."

* * *

"Misa?" Light asked gently.

"Yes?"

"Could you ask Rem to kill L?"

The blonde model turned pleading eyes to the Shinigami. "Please Rem? I want so much for Light to love me. I know we could be happy together."

How could she say no to that? Rem really didn't like Light, but… It would make Misa happy. "Fine. I will kill L for you. When should I do it?"

"The sooner the better. Tomorrow should be fine. We need to think it through before we go through with it though. A Shinigami called Shiine is haunting him. Will that cause any problems?"

Why were so many Shinigami coming to the human world lately? Rem didn't know a Shiine, but that didn't bother her too much. She hadn't spoken to every God of Death out there since she was reborn, and she definitely didn't remember all of their names. If she didn't know him, it made it easier. She wouldn't feel bad for killing the pet of a stranger. "It shouldn't. I did not originally come here with the intent to kill him. My Death Note will still work on him."

"Then make sure you don't kill him until I give the order. I will let you know how I want him killed tomorrow."

"Alright."

* * *

Rem followed Misa as she ran around the campus of To-Oh University. She had a nearby photo shoot and wanted to see Light. It was really admirable, the way she loved him enough to make these special trips for him. Rem only wished that Light felt the same way for Misa.

She spotted the young man up ahead. He was speaking to another male human. The other one looked very odd, but he was familiar to Rem. His face was a memorable one, very pale with dark bags under his eyes combined with wild black hair. He looked very much like Beyond too…

That's right. This was the human that Beyond watched all the time. She looked above his head to see an absent lifespan and the name _L Lawliet_. This was L? It had to be. A missing lifespan meant he was haunted by a Shinigami, and three was already too many to be in the human world at one time. It had to be Shiine. His name was also a pretty good give-away. If Misa saw him, she'd be able to kill him instead of getting Rem involved. It would be a lot less trouble. About the time she realized who the odd-looking boy was, Misa spotted them.

Rem hung back and looked around for Shiine as the blonde ran to them. He was certain to be nearby. She was a bit startled when she heard a voice behind her. "Hey Rem! What are you doing here?"

She turned to see a confusedly smiling Beyond behind her. Realization slammed into her and her eyes widened in shock. "You're Shiine?"

He tilted his head, "How do you know about that? You've been talking to Ryuk?"

"Why go by that name?"

Beyond shrugged, "Mr. Perfect over there killed me. L talks to him a lot, and he figured out that I was hanging around. I didn't want to give Kira the chance to recognize my name, so I told Ryuk to give him that name if he ever asked about me. Anyway, you didn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Misa wanted to see Light."

"Misa?" Beyond looked around Rem to see who she meant, "Is that the human you came down here for? She seems nice. Has a lot of admirers too."

Rem looked behind her to see a crowd of people surrounding the blonde. "She is a model."

Beyond nodded, "That explains it. Why did you come down here though? I mean, I thought Gods of Death weren't supposed to mingle with humans. Ryuk did it for entertainment, so what's your reason?"

"Do you remember when I told you about Gelus?" Beyond nodded. "This was the girl he saved. I came down here to give her his Notebook. I have to stay until she dies."

"Hey! Someone touched my butt!"

Rem glanced behind her worriedly, but relaxed when she saw that the situation was under control. Beyond was frowning at the scene. He shook his head. "You like her don't you?"

Rem scowled. "Not in the way that you are thinking. It's more of a mother-daughter type of feeling."

Instead of laughing like she expected, Beyond smiled at her. "I know what you mean."

Was that why he came to the human world? Because he felt attached to L? Before she could ask, a stern looking woman went over to Misa and grabbed her arm. It was Misa's manager. It must be time for the photo shoot.

"It seems like you have to go now. I'll see you around." He walked over to L and Light.

Rem grew her wings and flew behind Misa and her manager. If Beyond did have some sort of feelings for L, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to kill the human. It really was a good thing Misa had seen him. It would save her from the guilt. She was certain she'd be devastated if someone killed Misa. She didn't want to have to inflict that pain on another.

* * *

They finally had a suspect for the Second Kira. It was surprising that she was famous, but that wouldn't be a problem. Famous people were always getting into scandals. He could say that her manager was caught with drugs and Misa had to be taken in for questioning. It was much safer than saying she was a suspect in the Kira investigation.

He had told Light his reason for taking her into custody was that they had found her DNA in the videos that were sent. While this was true, it wasn't his only reason. The presence of her hair could be explained away - perhaps she wasn't the Second Kira but merely the delivery girl - but Beyond had been speaking to thin air when she walked up and immediately stopped when her manager took her away.

This gave him enough reason to think there was another Shinigami present. Of course, he could have been faking it, but L was inclined to think that he hadn't been. Beyond hadn't given him a false trail yet, and there was no reason for him to start now. He was already impatient with how long the case was taking.

Now they would just have to get her to talk. L would have to contact his people in England to make sure everything was ready when the case was finished.

* * *

Beyond fiddled with a game on his computer. Really, all he was doing was wasting time. Quillsh had gone to the secret building that Misa was being held in to interrogate her, and the rest of the taskforce had already gone home for the night. Now he was just waiting for L to disappear.

Due to the elderly man's absence, L's sweets supply was getting low. He was betting on L going shopping soon. The candy stash wouldn't last another day.

Sure enough, about ten minutes after everyone had left, L stood and grabbed his old tennis shoes. "I'm going to the bakery down the street for some cake. You want anything?"

Beyond muttered a negative. Waiting only a few minutes after L was gone, he rose from his chair walked into L's room. Instead of walking through the wall like he had taken to doing recently, he opened the door like he would have had to do had he still been alive. After looking around for a moment, he went back to the other room and fiddled with his computer for another few minutes. When he was sure it wouldn't be too suspicious, he flew up to the roof. Once there he went south in as straight a line as was possible. If he veered off even a little bit, it would screw up everything.

Landing in a construction site exactly 654 yards away from the building, he immediately turned around to face the direction he came from and sank into the ground. It was impossible to see where he was going when he was inside solid concrete, so he had to be very careful to go perfectly straight for the right distance.

When he'd counted the right amount he cautiously poked his head through the ground. He was inside the basement of a building. Looking around, he spotted a sign that indicated it was the same building the taskforce used as headquarters. Grinning at his success Beyond went completely into the room. Only one camera was stationed in this room, and it was guarding the door. He quickly went over to the electricity board.

After studying it for a moment, he pulled out all of the cords. Every light in the building immediately went out. Beyond could hear the sounds of people squealing from the floor above. Before leaving the room he opened the vent for the ventilation system. Now it could be blamed some other person.

Knowing that he was running short on time, Beyond flew up to the floor L had rented out. Instead of entering the room, he fazed into the wall. He knew that there were a few battery powered cameras in the suite and needed to avoid them. Thankfully, there were enough blind spots for what he needed to do that they wouldn't be too much of a problem. Carefully, he went into the bedroom. There, in the small bookshelf next to the bed, was a small black book.

In looks, it was exactly like the Death Note he had dropped to Earth. He'd spotted it a few days before Watari had left. It was the perfect thing to switch with the real one. He went into the floor and maneuvered so that just his face was poking out. Glad he'd been practicing, he used his hands to keep his balance and move around because his wings would have come up through the floor.

Keeping to the shadows, he grabbed the book and carried it close the ground so it wouldn't be seen. Trying to make as little sound as possible so he wouldn't be picked up on the sound equipment, he carried the little book into the living room of the suite. Thanking his luck that the bookshelf wasn't in view of the working cameras, he switched the two notebooks, carried the Death Note back into the bedroom, and placed it in the same spot the other one had been in.

He sighed in annoyance as he flew back down to the basement. Really, all this trouble to do something so simple was ridiculous. Ignoring the man who was trying to plug everything back in, he flew out through the ground. He didn't bother to keep up with direction or distance this time. If he went far enough, he'd be out of range of the outside cameras. It didn't matter if he ended up in the construction site or not. He made sure he was coming from the general direction of where he'd headed off from when he returned to the hotel.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or Another Note.

A/N: I'm a bit nervous about this one. Thanks so much for the reviews I've gotten. You guys are so awesome.

On a completely unrelated topic: when learning other languages, it is best to keep them seperate. For example, you shouldn't start Spanish and Russian in the same day. It only causes confusion. :P

* * *

"Get me a visual of her." L ordered.

"Are you sure?" Watari asked.

"Yes and quickly."

The TV in front of them flickered to show a girl tied to an odd contraption and blindfolded. L could hear the taskforce members gasp in astonishment. It would've been a shocking sight for L too, had he not seen similar things before.

"She hasn't spoken a word since being taken in."

"We probably have enough evidence to get her convicted, but we need a confession to be certain. We need to know how she kills, and if she knows who Kira is. Watari, take precautions, but use whatever you need to make her speak."

"So you're the type who likes torture, huh?" Beyond smirked, "I had never pegged you as a sadist L."

"Mr. Yagami, Light is now our prime suspect. I will probably take him in for investigation too. Please be prepared for when that happens."

"The father too? Man, you just hate everybody don't you?"

"_It was said in order to allow him to mentally prepare_," L muttered in English.

"What was that Ryuzaki?" Matsuda asked.

"Nothing of importance."

* * *

Light walked toward the investigation headquarters. L had arrested Misa a few days earlier. It had been surprising, but Light was adaptable. He'd already come up with a plan. If he could pull it off, L would be out of the way and he'd be in the best position to work as Kira.

He was now on his way to ask to be put in confinement.

* * *

Beyond walked into the main room of the suite to see everyone crowded around the television screens. Matsuda and Aizawa were talking about something Light had said. Beyond glanced at the screen on his way to the kitchen and did a double take. Kira's lifespan was showing. B rushed over to the screen to get a better look. He'd given up ownership!

What on earth was the boy doing? Beyond didn't understand his game. Why did he choose now to give up the notebook? Damn it! This case was going to take ages! He wanted it to be over with already. Who knew when Light would get his memories back? It had been months, L should have caught him by now. Beyond resisted the urge to break something, and instead started to yell at the detective.

"This is your fault! Kira's slipped away! You should have gotten evidence by now!" Of course, he was ignored. Matsuda and Aizawa were in the room after all. Beyond didn't care for once. He wanted to argue, witnesses or not. "Answer me Lawliet!"

L tensed at the name, but said nothing. He continued to watch the distraught boy on the screen. B slammed his fist onto the table, "I said 'Answer me'!"

The noise did not go unnoticed .The team was looking now. L glanced at them, but said nothing. He picked up the cup of tea in front of him and raised it to take a sip. Beyond hit it out of his hands and it fell to the floor. L frowned slightly and stood from his chair. Beyond followed him into one of the bedrooms in the suite. As soon as the door was shut he started shouting, "Why haven't you caught him yet? All you had to do was find his murder weapon! It's can't be that hard. Now he's as innocent as he pretends to be! You won't be able to convict him when he's like that!"

"So Light is Kira?"

"Not anymore he's not! The little fuck wiped his own memory."

"How exactly did he do that?"

"Figure it out! I've given you clues. If you'd find the weapon this case would be over!"

"I can't deduce anything when you block my progress at every turn," L deadpanned.

"Don't you try to blame this on me you worthless excuse for a human being! It's not my fault you didn't understand anything."

"I would understand if you gave me all the information I need! You cannot finish the puzzle without all the pieces."

"You're the _Great_ Detective aren't you? Never left a case unsolved? You aren't supposed to need every little thing handed to you!"

L's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Backup-"

The already angry Shinigami saw red. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

He lunged for the detective, slamming him into the wall and punching him in the face. L retaliated by attempting to kick him in the chest. Beyond quickly made himself incorporeal for the time it took for the attack to pass. It was a great form of defense.

When his kick didn't connect, L overbalanced and found himself on the floor. Beyond then made himself solid to continue his assault. L tried to block the blows as best he could by raising his arms to his head. Beyond was merciless. He did everything he could to harm the detective, raining furious blows onto his head and chest.

Then L did something unexpected. At the same time that Beyond aimed to kick him, his foot shot out and connected with B's leg. He backed off slightly in surprise. L had figured out that he couldn't attack and defend at the same time, and had come up with a way to fight. Beyond hadn't gained enough control over his abilities to make only his fist solid while the rest of him remained incorporeal. At least, not with such little time to think about it. He needed to end this quickly.

L stood and aimed a powerful kick to his stomach. Before it connected B swept his feet out from under him and his head hit the ground with a loud crash. He clutched at his skull and tried to curl up, but B straightened his legs and pinned him down.

How dare he call him by that name! All L'd done since he had arrived was treat him like dirt. Beyond'd had enough. He knelt down, wrapped his hands around that pale throat, and began to squeeze. L tried to fight him off, but the combination of restricted air and the lack of blood flow to his brain made him weak. He lost soon consciousness. He deserved much worse than this, but at least B would get to kill him with his own hands.

That was when he heard gunshots.

XxxSlightly EarlierXxx

"What was that about?" Matsuda asked.

"I don't know. It was weird."

Suddenly they heard loud _thump_ from the room L had just entered. They had time to glance at each other in confusion before hearing another loud noise. They quickly ran to the door and opened it to see what looked like L kicking at thin air. His foot suddenly slid out from under him, and he landed hard on his head. He curled up and clutched at his skull. Not understanding what had happened, they started to run over to him, but stopped when his legs straightened out and he flopped on his back. L started choking and struggling with some invisible force.

Matsuda and Aizawa watched in shock as L's hands wrapped around something that must have been clamped around his neck. He was kicking out wildly, but his feet connected with nothing. L moved one hand away from his neck and tried to hit the thing. His hand hit something solid but it didn't stop it from strangling him. In a matter of seconds he stopped moving completely.

Still having no idea what was going on, Matsuda took out his gun. Not really knowing where to aim he pointed it at the area just above L and fired a few shots. At first nothing happened, but then one of the bullets connected with something. His mouth dropped open when the small piece of metal slowed down and stopped a few inches off of the ground a little away from L's unconscious body.

The two men watched, transfixed, as the bullet wobbled around and flew up slightly before floating over to the mirror. It moved through the air for a few moments before dropping to the ground and staying still. When nothing more happened they went over to L, still watching the bullet for any signs of movement.

Aizawa checked for L's pulse. It was still there, going strong. The two men could see bruises forming on his neck in the shape of hands. Aizawa asked, "What do you think that was? A ghost?"

"I'm not sure. It was definitely something supernatural."

The two moved to put L's unconscious form onto the bed. Aizawa started to go back to the other room and call Watari when Matsuda spoke up. "Do you think it was a Shinigami?"

Aizawa turned back to look at the younger officer. "Why would you say that?"

"Well…I mean…The Second Kira mentioned them didn't he? And Ryuzaki's reaction was very odd. Then that thing attacks him. We have no idea what it was. It _could_ be a Shinigami, right?"

Aizawa grimaced. He didn't want to think about that. Assuming they existed, then it was definitely a possibility, but if it was true…There was a very real chance that L could be Kira. That was not a road he wanted to go down.

* * *

L woke in a large amount of pain. His head and throat, especially. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck or some other large vehicle. Groaning softly, he reached to grab his aching head only to find his hands' movement was constricted. He opened his eyes to see that he was handcuffed to the post on the headboard of his bed. Slowly, so as not to exacerbate his injuries, he pulled himself up so that he was at least in a sitting position. What was going on? The last thing he remembered was Beyond strangling him. He'd lost consciousness.

What had stopped Beyond from killing him? L thought back. He vaguely recalled hearing the door opening during the fight. Had the taskforce come in? What had they thought of the scene? It must have been an odd sight from their point of view, only being able to see one participant. Had they guessed at what Beyond was? If they did then that might lead them to think he was Kira. That would explain the handcuffs. "Hello?" He called out.

He heard movement in the living room before the door opened. Matsuda walked in looking at him nervously. Aizawa followed, glaring at him suspiciously. He looked at them with his usual blank expression and gestured to the handcuffs. "Well?"

"What was that thing?"

L continued staring at them, but stayed silent.

"Was it a Shinigami?"

L tilted his head.

"What was it Ryuzaki?"

L looked pointedly at the handcuffs.

"We aren't letting you out of those! You might be Kira! Answer our questions." Aizawa commanded.

L grew angry at hearing that. He'd guessed that was what had happened, but he still didn't like it. There were a number of things that pointed away from him being Kira, just like with Light, and still they were immediately ready to restrain him and point fingers. Why hadn't they done this when he'd pointed out Light's possible guilt? They'd all stood up for him. Was it because he was the Chief's son? Was it because he was nicer to look at? Ridiculous.

He almost voiced his displeasure with their obvious display of favoritism, but decided against it. He needed to allay their suspicions. "There are a number of reasons why I cannot be Kira. If I were Kira, why would I have taken this case at all? Why would I have pointed out any clues? Why would I have kept the Shinigami idea open? Why point out that there was a Second Kira? No one knows who I am. It would have been simple for me to stay hidden, had I been Kira. Instead I let you see my face; I let you know my location. Yet you still suspect me."

"You have a Shinigami."

L sighed inwardly, "Have you considered the possibility that it is not a God of Death? Perhaps it is something else. A demon or a poltergeist, perhaps…How did you stop it from killing me?"

"Matsuda shot it, or at least, we think he did. The bullet hit _some_thing."

L's eyes widened and he looked more carefully around the room. Beyond was not present. How had the bullet hit him? From the way he spoke, it sounded like a Shinigami could only die if their numbers ran out. He'd made it sound like they couldn't be harmed by normal weapons. But then, how had the bullet connected? Was Beyond wrong? If he was wrong about that, it was a possibility that he was wrong about how Shinigami die as well.

Had Matsuda killed him?

* * *

A/N: I...don't know what to say. I feel both bad and excited about the end of this chapter. Heh.


End file.
